Yavin

Yavin is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. As seen in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, it is a red gas giant. Its core is composed of metallic substances and pieces of carbon and metallic hydrogen that form corusca gems. Although mining these gems is a promising venture, Yavin is mostly known for its moon of Yavin 4. The Super Star Destroyer Knight Hammer was destroyed here when it was diverted towards the planet's core after a collision with a rebel vessel. It is rumored that the Sith Darth Maul was from this region. No one has ever been able to land on the planet, because of its high speed wind storms, no one can get more than a few miles through the atmosphere.

Moons
In A New Hope and the Expanded Universe, Yavin has three other habitable moons.

Yavin 4


Yavin 4 is one of the many moons of the gas planet Yavin in the Star Wars universe. It was home to the Rebel Alliance's main military base in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Filming
In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the scenes featuring the scenery of Yavin 4 were filmed in Tikal, Guatemala.

In the cinematic series
The Rebels established their base in the ancient Massassi ruins found in the lush jungles of Yavin 4 following the abandonment of their previous base on the planet Dantooine. The Galactic Empire sought to use its new space station superweapon, the Death Star, to destroy the small jungle moon and crush the Rebellion. A force of twenty-two X-wing and eight Y-wing starfighters as shown by the Special Edition were sent to destroy the Death Star. With seconds remaining before the moon was to be destroyed, Luke Skywalker, thanks to the timely assistance of his friend Han Solo and the ghostly advice of Obi-Wan Kenobi to use the The Force, was able to fire a proton torpedo into a small thermal exhaust port along the Death Star's equatorial trench, thereby destroying the station and saving Yavin 4 from destruction.

All except three Rebel Alliance craft were destroyed in the attack, the only survivors being Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles, and an unnamed Y-wing pilot (perhaps Keyan Farlander), and possibly a gunner, making four, not including Luke. The survivors are seen in the film when Luke disembarks his X-wing. Following the Death Star's destruction, a great ceremony was held, during which Princess Leia presented medals of honor to Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.

This battle became known as the Battle of Yavin, and its date is used as a place-marker for events in the expanded Star Wars universe. Events before the Battle of Yavin are marked by BBY ("Before the Battle of Yavin"), and events that occur after are marked by ABY ("After the Battle of Yavin").

The Yavin 4 moon was also the site of giant Massassi Temples built ages ago by the Massassi to worship Naga Sadow, a Sith Lord who had enslaved and mutated the Massassi using Sith Alchemy. The Temple later housed the Rebel Alliance, who used it for shelter and camouflage during their stay on Yavin 4. The Alliance built tall observation towers to monitor entries and exits from their hidden base. The main temple was destroyed during the Yuuzhan Vong occupation of Yavin 4.

Expanded Universe
In Tales of the Jedi, it is stated that Yavin 4 was where Naga Sadow hid from the Republic in 5,000 BBY and was discovered several hundred years later by the fallen Jedi Freedon Nadd. According to the comic series, the Massassi warriors who built the ruins used by the Rebels were brought to the planet by the Sith Order in its early years.

In the Jedi Academy Trilogy, Kevin J. Anderson suggested that Exar Kun had the temples built. Enveloped in the dark side, Kun elevated himself to the stature of a god. He enslaved the Massassi and forced them to construct an intricate complex of massive temples that were used for arcane Sith ceremonies and rites as focii for the dark side.

In the young reader novel The Lost City of the Jedi, it is discovered, as the title suggests, that the ancient Jedi built a lost city on Yavin 4.

In the animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker has a fierce battle with Asajj Ventress, a follower of Count Dooku. Finally Anakin defeats Asajj, sending her falling down a dark abyss.

Luke Skywalker later returns to the moon to found a Jedi academy there, rather than on Coruscant. The academy was destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong in 26 ABY.

Yavin 4 appears in the downloadable content for the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

According to the Keeper of the Holocron, Leland Chee, Yavin 4 (Yavin Four in dialogue), is the correct spelling, not Yavin IV.

Real-world relevance
Astronomers have been discovering "extrasolar" planets (planets that orbit stars other than the Sun) the last few years. Some of these extrasolar planets are large and resemble Yavin, although astronomers cannot yet tell whether any Earth type planetary moons exist around such extrasolar planets. The most intriguing of these extrasolar planets is HD 28185 b, which orbits in its star's habitable zone in a circular orbit. (However, while Yavin is orange, such planets are currently predicted to be white, with water clouds.) Another such planet is 55 Cancri f.

Yavin 8
A cold moon consisting mostly of tundra. It harbors some life, albeit not very diverse.

Yavin 13
Yavin 13, a hot desert moon populated by Gerbs and Sliths (a serpentine species, not to be mistaken for the infamous Sith). - In the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, it is possible to visit a space station orbiting Yavin 13.