 |  |
- "Contrary to what some nose-in-the-air Core Worlder'll tell you, I'm not pointing at Coruscant."
- ―Crix Q5 Baobab, regarding the Galactic Center
The Galactic Center was a supermassive black hole that existed at the center of the galaxy within the Deep Core. Like other black holes, it was identified as a star of class P. Its mass was estimated to be four million stellar masses, and all four hundred billion stars in the galaxy revolved around it. Antimatter, gas, and approximately thirty million densely packed stars closely surrounded the Galactic Center, though the latter was not within its immediate vicinity. While no living sentient had ever witnessed the Galactic Center firsthand, probe droids had been sent to observe it and confirmed its existence. Despite its actual location to the northeast of the Galactic Center on the galactic plane, the planet Coruscant was also commonly referred to as the center of the galaxy.
Description[]
- "This is a black hole—one that weighs as much as four million suns."
- ―Crix Q5 Baobab
Coruscant was often figuratively referred to as the center of the galaxy.
A supermassive black hole of stellar class P, the Galactic Center was situated at the very center of the galaxy in the Deep Core and was the object around which all[1] four hundred billion[2] stars of the galaxy orbited. The immediate area around the black hole was devoid of stars, however, and instead had large amounts of gas spiraling into it.[1] The Galactic Center's immediate vicinity also contained antimatter,[3] while there were approximately thirty billion[1] densely packed[3] stars further out in the Deep Core. Its mass was estimated to be the equivalent to that of four million stars.[1]
As a result of its proximity to the Galactic Center,[4] the planet[1] Khomm's moonless sky was filled with numerous bright stars.[4] Despite the Galactic Center being the true center-point of the galaxy, the planet Coruscant was frequently referred to as the galactic center[1] and was even known as the center of the universe.[5] The planet featured a spaceport known as the Galactic Center Spaceport,[6] and the Galactic Senate Medcenter—also on Coruscant—was sometimes referred to as the Galactic Center Medcenter.[7] Coruscant had the XYZ-format galactic coordinates of 0,0,0—despite its position slightly northwest and above the plane of ecliptic with respect to the true Galactic Center. This discrepancy frustrated astrocartographers for millennia.[1]
History[]
Before civil war[]
- "From what I'd heard from spice pirates and deep-space pilots, it sounded like the exact opposite of Tatooine. Tatooine was a forgotten wasteland on the Outer Rim. Coruscant was the center of the galaxy."
- ―Anakin Skywalker's journal, regarding Coruscant
Darth Bane once pondered a fate of endlessly orbiting the Galactic Center.
Around 995 BBY,[9] the Sith Lord Darth Bane noted that his Infiltrator-series long-range fighter Mystic would become his "coffin" floating around the Galactic Center if his hyperspace journey into the Deep Core failed.[10] In 32 BBY,[11] the youngling Anakin Skywalker referred to Coruscant as the center of the galaxy in his journal.[8]
At some point, the existence of the Galactic Center was confirmed through the use of probe droids, though it was never observed by any sentient beings firsthand. During a class held at the Baobab Merchant Marine Academy in the Imperial Period, Instructor Crix Q5 Baobab once lectured their students on the Galactic Center, informing them of its mass, status as the galaxy's center, and its discovery by probe droids. Baobab also remarked that an individual from the Core Worlds might falsely claim that the galaxy revolved around the planet Coruscant instead of the Galactic Center.[1]
The Galactic Empire[]
- "I can hardly believe it… where did the time go?"
"Where time always goes. There's a giant black hole in the center of the galaxy, and it just sucks it right up." - ―Bria Tharen and Lando Calrissian
Snillik was a thick liqueur that was produced near the Galactic Center[13] by 2 BBY.[14] After an artifact of early spaceflight collided with the light freighter Millennium Falcon in the orbit of the planet Rafa V[15] at some point between 3 BBY and 2 BBY,[14] the freighter's captain, the gambler Lando Calrissian, made an exclamation with reference to the Galactic Center.[15]
In 1 BBY, Doctor Insmot Bowen speculated that the Celestials[16]—immortal entities of the Force[17]—created the galaxy's circumferential hyperspace barrier by manipulating energy drawn from the Galactic Center.[16] Around 0 BBY,[18] Calrissian quipped to the Rebel Alliance operative Bria Tharen that the black hole consumed time itself.[12] After the smuggler Han Solo, who by then had become captain of the Millennium Falcon, claimed that the starship could make point five factors beyond lightspeed when farmhand Luke Skywalker first saw the vessel[19] in 0 BBY,[20] Skywalker thought to himself that Solo was possibly the biggest liar "on that side of the Galactic Center."[19]
After the Empire[]
- "Muur is playing mind games with the people here—trying to play mind games with me—and it is going to stop."
"Or? Threats usually come with an or, Master Skywalker."
"Or I stuff you and that trinket into a rocket and send you into a black hole at the center of the Deep Core." - ―Cade Skywalker and Celeste Morne
Cade Skywalker threatens to jettison Celeste Morne into the Galactic Center.
Following its presumed destruction during the Battle of the Maw[22] in 11 ABY,[23] the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Gorgon retreated toward the bright area of the galaxy surrounding the Galactic Center—bound for the Deep Core—to join Imperial forces based there.[22] The invasion of the galaxy by the extra-galactic Yuuzhan Vong species took a sharp turn in course for the Galactic Center in 26 ABY when their forces set their sights on the planet Duro.[24] At some point between 35 ABY and 36 ABY,[25] Luke Skywalker fought in a duel with UnuThul, the leader of the Colony—an organization of the sentient insectoid Killik species. Skywalker, by then a Jedi Grand Master, used the Force during the duel to render himself nearly immovable, pondering the idea that not even the Galactic Center could falter him.[26] The Galactic Center and its role and significance in history were recorded in a chronicle of galactic history written by the Historical Council of the Galactic Alliance and published in 36 ABY.[24]
Around 137 ABY, bounty hunter Cade Skywalker threatened to jettison Jedi Master Celeste Morne into the Galactic Center if Sith Lord Karness Muur—who was exerting his will through a talisman on Morne's neck—did not stop mentally toying with the people present in an Imperial stronghold on[21] the planet[27] Had Abbadon.[21]
Behind the scenes[]
The Galactic Center was first mentioned in Alan Dean Foster's 1976 novelization of[19] the 1977 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope.[28] The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the Galactic Center on the border between grid squares K-11 and L-11.[1]
Appearances[]
- Darth Bane: Rule of Two (Mentioned only)
- Darth Bane: Rule of Two audiobook (Mentioned only)
- The Last Jedi (Indirect mention only)
- Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu (Mentioned only)
- Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon (Mentioned only)
- Rebel Dawn (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: A New Hope novelization (First mentioned)
- Champions of the Force (Mentioned only)
- Darksaber (Mentioned only)
- Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy (Indirect mention only)
- Dark Nest III: The Swarm War (Mentioned only)
- Dark Nest III: The Swarm War abridged audiobook (Mentioned only)
- Legacy (2006) 29 (Mentioned only)
Sources[]
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 7 (PLA6, Planets of the Core Worlds)
"Endor and the Moddell Sector" — Star Wars Gamer 9- Coruscant and the Core Worlds
"Byss and the Deep Core" (original article link) on Wizards.com (content now obsolete; backup link) (Indirect mention only)- The New Essential Chronology
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (Mentioned in multiple entries, but without own entry) (Indirect mention only)
- The Essential Atlas
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia
Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut — The Celestials on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)- The Official Star Wars Fact File Collector's Guide & Galaxy Chart
- Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook
