wpegg: Well, I checked the film, and in the last scene before Obi wan chops him in half, it's the standard pigment. Though thinking about it, after the half choppy thing he does then go yellow eyes.

Breja: Well, since the thread is back, I can ask about something that's bothering me. Something I'm amazed and ashamed I have not thought of earlier.

People have been arguing about stuff like the bombs dropping down in space, Leia flying in space... but what about the pivotal thing the whole plot of the movie is build around? The damn space chase?

The whole idea is that the rebel fleet is running out of fuel- that's the ticking clock. We even see ship after ship run out of fuel and get left behind. But... you don't need to keep using up fuel to keep going in space. It's space. You won't slow down. Once you've achieved desired speed, you can turn the engines off. You'll keep going on and on. Until some gravitational forces intervene, but that was obviously not the case. Even by Star Wars standards of obeying laws of physics, this is something so basic, and so utterly wrong. And don't you pull that "sound in space" shit! Us hearing the sounds has no influence on the events, but this is absolutely integral to the fundamental element of the plot.

wpegg: On this one they have a fairly easy win. In space it's all relative. If the ship chasing you is accelerating, you need to be accelerating at the same speed. I assume the first order were accelerating, and thus gaining on the resistance. It does mean that they are increasing their velocity relative to the planet, but with regards to each other it's stable.

Breja: But they all have some maximum speed. They can't keep accelerating forever. They achieve max speed... and that's it. And once they do, they can turn the engines off. They won't be going any faster anyway.

wpegg: Apart from the speed of light (and I don't think SW got relativistic) there is no such thing.

Breja: I don't think I follow. Are you saying that a ship would have no top speed?

wpegg: Exactly, for the very same reason you say they would need no acceleration. There is no resistance, nothing slowing them down, so nothing stopping them going even faster. There is no such thing as a top speed until you reach the speed of light, at which point you start getting into relativity and time dialation.

Breja: I... ok, I'm probably being an idiot, I'm no scientist. But you have an engine, and that engine has some max thrust it can provide. If it keeps pushing you forward with the same force, it won't make you go even faster.

Breja: I... ok, I'm probably being an idiot, I'm no scientist. But you have an engine, and that engine has some max thrust it can provide. If it keeps pushing you forward with the same force, it won't make you go even faster.

wpegg: You're not being an idiot, you just need to play Kerbal Space Program for a bit (it's amazing, really worth playing).

wpegg: You said "you don't need to keep using up fuel to keep going in space. It's space. You won't slow down.". So in that situation, what if you used the fuel anyway and applied more thrust? Surely you'd speed up?

wpegg: While we're back on the physics starwars obvious mess - have you ever considered that in space, in everything in starwars there seems to be a universal acceptance of "downwards"? I like to think there's a big arrow in space every so often pointing ships to which way down is :).

Breja: No, because you applied you max thrust. You can apply it again, but you can't apply more.

wpegg: KSP, really worth playing. It will help here, and generally improve your understanding of astrophysics. If you get time, check it out.

Breja: No, because you applied you max thrust. You can apply it again, but you can't apply more.