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Yavin IV

Distance from Galactic Core	40,500 light years
Region	Outer Rim
System	Yavin Star System
Number of suns	1
Population	21.2 million
Surface Water	8%
Affiliation: New Empire

An ancient Massassi Temple on the jungle moon of Yavin IV

A Rebel sentry watches over the Rebel Base

Yavin IV 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. The Rebels established their base in the ancient Massassi ruins found in its lush jungles following the destruction 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-three X-Wing and seven Y-Wing starfighters (some sources state that there were twenty-two X-Wing and eight Y-Wing fighters and possibly two Z-95 Headhunters, though the latter is very unlikely) were sent to destroy the Death Star, however all but three were killed in the attack, the only survivors being Luke Skywalker, Wedge Antilles, and an un-named Y-Wing pilot (this pilot is sometimes thought to be Keyan Farlander). With seconds remaining and the timely assistance of his friend Han Solo, Luke Skywalker was able to fire a proton torpedo into a small thermal exhaust port along the Death Star's equatorial trench, thus destroying the station and saving Yavin 4. A great ceremony was held following the Death Star's destruction, where Princess Leia bestowed medals of honor to Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, though they never gave Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca a medal and in fact he participated in the battle.

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, and events that occur after are marked by ABY.

The Yavin IV 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 base who used it for shelter and camouflage during their stay there. 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 IV.

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

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, though astronomers cannot yet tell if any Earth type planetary moons exist around such extrasolar planets.

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 Jedi Academy Trilogy, Kevin 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 in arcane Sith ceremonies and rites as focuses for the dark side.

In the young reader novel, The Lost City of the Jedi, it is discoved, as the title suggests, that the ancient Jedi built a lost city on Yavin 4. This city has not been seen in any other Star Wars work, due to the book's unpopularity.

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 IV in the Star Wars Databank
• Yavin IV on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki