Department of Galactic Studies
Planets and Stars
Introduction
Greetings students, take a seat and pay attention.
The galaxy has approximately 400 billion stars, of which 180 billion have planets that can support life. In this course we will cast a closer look to these stars and planets. You will be tested at the end of this class session so be sure to document as much as you can on your datapads.
Stars
As you might have noticed during your travels throughout the known galaxy, stars come in a variety of colors. These colors are not just ‘show’ but indicate the warmth of a certain star. From the color of a certain star, we can deduce a number of things. Fear not, I am transferring this data to your datapad as we speak. Take a look.
| Type | Color | Example | Lifespan (years) | % of Stars | % Habitable | Number Habitable in known galaxy |
| O | Blue | Garnib | <1 million | 1% | 10% | 100 million |
| B | Blue | Kessel | 10 million | 1% | 10% | 100 million |
| A | White | Colu | 400 million – 2 billion | 1% | 10% | 100 million |
| F | Yellow-white | Ropagi | 4 billion | 1% | 10% | 100 million |
| G | Yellow | Corellia | 10 billion | 4% | 50% | 2 billion |
| K | Orange | Yavin | 60 billion | 15% | 25% | 3.75 billion |
| M | Red | Barab | >100 trillion | 70% | 1% | 700 million |
| - | Non-main sequence | Various | 10% | 5% | 500 million |
As you can see, 70% of the stars in the known galaxy are red dwarfs, they live pretty much forever but they’re awfully faint and cold for life.
Do the math and you wind up with about 7.1 billion habitable stars in the known galaxy, that is about 3.2 billion habitable systems.
If you study the data carefully you will notice that 10% of the stars are labeled as non-main sequence stars. I know you must all wonder what this means, but it is very simple. There are 2 pre-main sequence stars: the brown dwarf and the protostar. Aside from these there are 3 post-main sequence stars: the red giant, the blue giant and the red supergiant. Aside from these you also have ‘compact stars’: the white dwarf, the black dwarf, the neutron star and last but not least, the black hole.
We will not talk about non-main sequence stars in this course because of the very fact that they hold little importance in Galactic affairs.
Planets
There are a great number of individual planets in the known galaxy, we will direct our time today only to very few of them. Below is a listing of several planets that have played key roles in the galaxy, whether through important figures originating fromt he planet, or through the planet itself. Each of these planets have played a role in the galaxy and has made it what it is today.
Each planet will have its statistics listed along with a short history. Do your best to understand and learn these statistics.
Alderaan
- Terrain: Forests, Plains
- Diameter: 12,500km
- Length of Day: 24 standard hours
- Length of Year: 364 local days
- Population: 2 billion
- Sentient Species: Human
- Species mix: Human (95%), other (5%)
- Language: Basic
- Government: Democracy
- Major Exports: Wine, art, luxury goods
- Major Imports: Manufactured goods, electronics.
- System/Star: Alderaan/Alderaan
- Destroyed
The peaceful, idyllic world of Alderaan was destroyed in an instant by the planet-shattering laser of the Death Star, the greatest atrocity of the Galactic Civil War that offered no shortage. The Death Star’s superlaser left being an asteroid field called ‘the Graveyard’, orbited by the remains of Alderaan’s moon. Many Alderaanian exiles visit the Graveyard to pay their respects to these murdered by the Empire, a ritual known as ‘The Returning’.
Coruscant
- Terrain: Urban Cityscape
- Diameter: 12,240km
- Length of Day: 24 standard hours
- Length of Year: 368 local days
- Population: 1 trillion
- Sentient Species: Human
- Species mix: Human (78%), other (22%)
- Language: Basic
- Government: Republic or dictatorship (depending on era)
- Major Exports: Culture
- Major Imports: Foodstuffs, medical goods
- System/Star: Coruscant/Coruscant
Though Coruscant is not the literal center of the galaxy, in terms of its political, economic and cultural influence (not to mention its galactic coordinates of 0-0-0), it might as well be. In murky pre-history, this proud planet once served as the battle ground between the proud Taungs and the human tribes of the Battalions of Zheli. With the withdrawal of the Taungs, the human tribes came into sole possession of the world, and urbanization soon followed. By as early as 90,000 BBY the Galactic City had already stood layer upon layer.
Due to its position at the head of several hyperspace routes, it became the capital of the emerging Galactic Republic. Urbanization continued at a furious pace. Soon after, no point on the surface remained free from construction, save for the peaks of the Manarai Mountains.
High above, weather satellites and orbital mirrors simulate a spring time climate; deep below the undercity became a haven for cannibalistic mutants.
The Legislative District housed senators from across the galaxy; with its nexus the mushroom dome of the Senate Chamber.
Dathomir
- Terrain: Forest, desert, mountain
- Diameter: 10,460km
- Length of Day: 24 standard hours
- Length of Year: 491 local days
- Population: 5,200
- Sentient Species: Human
- Species mix: Human (97%), other (3%)
- Language: Basic, Paeccian
- Government: Tribal
- Major Exports: Labor
- Major Imports: None
- System/Star: Dathomir/Domir
Notorious among spacers for its two primary exports – rancors and witches. Though the planet boasts stunning natural beauty, nothing can overcome its reputation as a place of animal savagery and dark magic. Dathomir’s varied terrain includes green forests and yellow deserts, tumbling waterfalls and oozing tar pits. To those sensitive in the Force, its atmosphere seems to crackle with life energy.
Hapes
- Terrain: Cities, forests, mountains
- Diameter: 12,254 km
- Length of Day: 22 standard hours
- Length of Year: 240 local days
- Population: 8 million
- Sentient Species: Humans (Hapans)
- Species mix: Humans (100%)
- Language: Hapan, Basic
- Government: Hereditary matriarchy
- Major Exports: None
- Major Imports: Foodstuffs, high technology
- System/Star: Hapes/Hapes
The capital of the isolationist, female-ruled Hapes Cluster, Hapes is a beautiful world of lush forests, soaring mountain ranges and impeccably clean cities and factories. Hapes being Hapes, cultural traditions are not considered sufficient to guarantee that all be beautiful: Hapan law requires a degree of cleanliness that would be startling on nearly any other civilized world. Hapes is the cluster’s bureaucratic center: by law, all significant Hapan financial and business transactions must be performed on Hapes itself. As a result, the other sixty-two Consortium worlds maintain embassies on Hapes, as do most of the cluster’s major business entities.
Ilum
- Terrain: Snow, mountains
- Diameter: 5,870 km
- Length of Day: 66 standard hours
- Length of Year: 1,078 local days
- Population: None
- Sentient Species: None
- Species mix: Not applicable
- Language: None
- Government: None
- Major Exports: None
- Major Imports: None
- System/Star: Ilum/Asar
The icy globe of Ilum once counted itself as one of three worlds (alongside Ossus and Tython) of sacred importance to the Jedi Order. Crystals mined from Ilum provided the power for Jedi lightsabers, giving the weapons their signature glows of green and blue. The earliest lightsaber crystals came from adega, a world near Ossus and the Perlemian Trade