Ilum
Ilum
The icy globe of Ilum once counted itself as one of three worlds—alongside Ossus and Tython—of sacred importance to the Jedi Order.
- Grid Location: G-7
- Region: Unknown Regions
- 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
- Languages: None
- Government: None
- Major Exports: None
- Major Imports: None
- System/Star: Ilum/Asur
Planets in the System:
| Planets | Type | Moons |
|---|---|---|
| Jike | Searing rock | 0 |
| Bory | Airless rock | 0 |
| Cala | Airless rock | 0 |
| Kess Bela | Asteroid belt | — |
| Ilum | Terrestrial | 2 |
| Trop | Gas giant | 11 |
| Eon | Gas giant | 41 |
| Fern | Gas giant | 20 |
"The icy globe of Ilum once counted itself as one of three worlds—alongside Ossus and Tython—of sacred importance to the Jedi Order..."
Detailed History
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 Route. The three most common varieties—katrahric, niphonite, and pontite—are still referred to as Adegan crystals. But around 22,800 BBY a Jedi scout followed the Force's pull to reach a point almost impossibly deep in unexplored space. Ilum sat framed in the forward viewports when the scout opened his eyes, and the planet's crust burst with katrahric, niphonite, and pontite. The mystical experience gave Ilum a place of prominence in the evolving code of Jedi rituals.
The traditional hyperjump to Ilum—one uninterrupted hop directly from Metellos—could only be accomplished by Force-strong pilots and remained a Jedi secret. Those needing to build their first lightsabers (or to replace lost weapons) made the journey, seeking out the snowy entrance of the crystal caverns and engaging in a period of fasting and mystic farsensing. The construction of a lightsaber could take weeks, with most of the time spent in meditation.
Ilum orbits far from its sun, its perpetual ice age melded fitfully by scattered pockets of geothermal heat. Deep snowdrifts have buried all but the tallest escarpments. Blowing ice fragments can be whipped into a skin-shredding cyclone during windstorms. Most life exists underground near volcanic vents, but predatory gorgodons prowl near mountain crevasses, baring their fangs and brandishing their club-like tails if strangers venture too close to their nests.
In 22 BBY Ilum became a Clone Wars target. On orders from former Jedi Count Dooku, a battalion of Separatist chameleon droids collapsed the crystal caverns with explosive charges. Yoda, Luminara Unduli, and Barriss Offee all fought to destroy the saboteurs, but damage to the caverns took more than a year to repair.
Following Order 66, several survivors of the Jedi Purge took refuge on Ilum, trusting in its reputation as a sanctuary and not grasping that the Emperor's hunters already possessed the planet's coordinates. After chasing off or killing any stragglers, the Empire built an outpost on Ilum that sat understaffed and forgotten for decades.