The Time Dilation Curve & Spaceships in Star Wars

The curve on the left hand side is the time dilation curve. As you see, the time dilation rate expands unlimitedly when approaching the speed of light. This curve also applies to Relativistic Momentum, Relativistic Kinetic Energy, Relativistic Doppler Effect, etc. (Click the graph to enlarge it.)


Did you realize that when a spaceship in Star Wars went into the hyperspace (actually, hyperspace isn't something like what you see in Star Wars.), the length of the spaceship decreases, then disappeared in the space. Actually, this phenomenon can be explained by the Special theory of Relativity.


The effect used to explain that is Length Contraction, also known as the Lorentz Contraction. The theory stated that comparing to a stationary observer, length of an object appears to be shorter. The formula is as below:

Here is the curve of the length contraction.

Like other formulae in the Special Relativity, there is a singularity when the velocity reaches the speed of light. In this case, length observed shall reduce to 0. So, when the spaceship goes into hyperspace, it approaches the speed of light, and the the length observed will reduce for a certain rate. That's why the length of the spaceship reduces before it disappear.