Lit The Essential Atlas and Galactic Cartography: Official Discussion

Comparing this map to the Atlas Map / Visual Dictionary Maps [Ep 7, Ep 8, Ep 9, Rogue 1]

Lots of planets which are in previous maps, and lots which were not

139 Planets in Total

11 Planets from / mentioned in the Orig-Trig
* Tattoine, Kessel, Alderaan, Corellia, Yavin, Hoth, Ord Mantell, Dagobah, Bespin, Endor, Sullust

11 Planets from / mentioned in the Prequels
* Coruscant, Naboo, Malastare, Geonosis, Utapau, Kashyyyk, Cato Neimodia, Saleucami, Felucia, Mygeeto, Mustafar.

11 Planets from / mentioned in the Sequels that were previously placed in Visual Dictionary Maps
* Jakku, Takodana, Hosnian Prime, Starkiller Base, D'Qar, Ahch-To, Crait, Cantonica, Ajan Kloss, Kijimi, Pasaana

1 (newly placed) planet from the Sequels
* Ponemah (“drop you two off at Ponemah Terminal”) (Also mentioned in Lost Stars) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]

4 Planets from / mentioned in Side-quels that were previously placed in Visual Dictionary Maps
* Jedha, Scarif, Vandor, Savareen

1 (newly placed) planet from Solo: A Starwars Story
* Numidian Prime (Created 2018: Solo & Novelisaiton, Where they find Lando at the epilogue) [MID RIM, GALACTIC N]

12 Planets in previous Visual Dictionary Canon Maps
* Rattatak, Nal Hutta, Onderon, Kuat, Chandrilla, Mandalore, Ithor, Dathomir, Lothal, Mon Cal, Moraband, Batuu

27 Planets NOT in pervious Visual Dictionary Canon Maps, but were in the Atlas map
* Bakura, Koda Station, Codia, Lutrillia, Gerrenthum, Eriadu, Clak'dor, Kinyen, Yag'Dhul, Abregado, Denon, Tepasi, Csilla, Glee Anselm, Iridonia, Serenno, Sriluur, Toydaria, Teth, Gamorr, Rishi, Kowak, Ando, Zolan, Rodia, Christophsis, Ryloth

This map contains 6 "Homeworld" Planets which were previously only placed in the Appendix of the Atlas
* Vodran (Dianoga) [HUTT SPACE]
* Chad (Chadra-Fan) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC NE]
* Tibrin (Ishi Tib) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC S]
* Kintan (Nikto) [HUTT SPACE]
* Cerea (Cereans) [MID RIM, GALACTIC SSW]
* Cholganna (Nexus Beast) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC NE, NEAR CORPORATE SECTOR]

5 planets originating from the Clone Wars which were previously only placed in the Appendix of the Atlas
* Pantora (S1E15) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SSE]
* Florrum (S1E16) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC NE, NEAR CORPORATE SECTOR]
* Mooga (S3E5) [MID RIM, GALACTIC NE]
* Karkaris (S4E11) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC NE, NEAR CORPORATE SECTOR]
* Lotho Minor (S4E21) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SSW, By Hoth]

2 planets which were Legends planets, in the Appendix of the Atlas, and have got Re-canonised in new stories.
* Dwartii (Created 2005: Complete Locations, Canonised in Tarkin) [INNER RIM, GALACTIC NE]
* Taul (Created 1994: WEG RPG - Star Wars Adventure Journal 1, Canonised in C-3PO #1) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC S, By Hoth]

1 planet from Legends, with NO Canon appearance
* Davnar (Created 1979: Han Solo at Stars' End) [CORE, GALACTIC NW]

1 planet previously in a separate system
* Oda Diah (Created 2013: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy, Previously IN the Kessel System, now it's own System) [OUTER RIM, GALACTIC W]

2 (newly placed) planets from Rebels
* Garel (Created 2014: Rebels short 4 - "Controversial Statue Finally Destroyed") [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC ENE]
* Atollon (Created 2016: Rebels S2E19) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC ENE]

22 (newly placed) planets from other Canon Sources
* Chaaktil (Created 2015: The Perfect Weapon) [INNER RIM, GALACTIC SSE]
* Bar'leth (Created 2015: Lando #1, University Planet) [CORE, GALACTIC NE]
* Shu-Torun (Created 2015: Marvel Comics Darth Vader Annual #1) [MID RIM, GALACTIC NNW]
* Dybrin (Created 2015: Ep 7 Visual dictionary, Homeworld of Ep 7 Alien: Dybrinthe) [DEEP CORE, GALACTIC SE]
* Orchis (Created 2016: Galactic Atlas) [INNER RIM, GALACTIC NE]
* Gatalenta (Created 2016: Bloodlines) [CORE, GALACTIC E]
* Parnassos (Created 2017: Phasma, Phasma's homeworld) [UNKNOWN REGION, GALACTIC NNW]
* Vardos (Created 2017: Battlefront II & Book Inferno Squad, Iden Versio's homeworld) [CORE, GALACTIC N]
* Mokivj (Created 2018: Thrawn: Alliances) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]
* Cermau (Created 2018: Thrawn: Alliances) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]
* Castilon (Created 2018: Starwars: Resistance) [MID REGIONS, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]
* Vixnix (Created 2018: Lando's luck) [MID RIM, GALACTIC NNW]
* Hynestia (Created 2018: Lando's luck) [COLONIES, GALACTIC SSW]
* Gonda (Created 2018: Lando's luck) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SSW]
* Bardelberan (Created 2019: Pirate's Price) [MID RIM, GALACTIC NNW]
* Galagolos (Created 2019: Pirate's Price) [CORE, GALACTIC NNW]
* Dhandu (Created 2019: Pirate's Price) [EXPANSION REGION, GALACTIC NNW]
* Throffdon (Created 2019: Pirate's Price) [INNER RIM, GALACTIC NNW]
* Gwongdeen (Created 2019: Pirate's Price) [COLONIES, GALACTIC NNW]
* Beixander (Created 2019: Pirate's Price) [MID RIM, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]
* Pam'ba (Created 2019: Force Collector) [MID RIM, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]
* Merokia (Created 2019: Force Collector) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC S, By Hoth]

16 (newly placed) planets from Canon Sources related to "Galaxies Edge"
* Avedot (Created 2019: Galaxies Edge) [COLONIES, GALACTIC N]
* Ketz (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [COLONIES, GALACTIC SSW]
* Risso (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [INNER RIM, GALACTIC SE]
* Cuyacan (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [EXPANSION REGION, GALACTIC E]
* Linasals (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [EXPANSION REGION, GALACTIC SSE]
* Haneli (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [EXPANSION REGION, GALACTIC S]
* Urajab (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [EXPANSION REGION, GALACTIC S]
* Eroudac (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [MID RIM, GALACTIC SE]
* Toledian (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [MID RIM, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]
* Abelor (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [MID RIM, GALACTIC S]
* Actlyon (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SSW, By Endor]
* Chibbier (Created 2019: A Crash of Fate) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC S, By Hoth]
* Lespectus (Created 2019: Datapad App) [CORE, GALACTIC NE]
* Onod (Created 2019: Datapad App) [MID RIM, GALACTIC S]
* Wick (Created 2019: Datapad App) [OUTER REGIONS, GALACTIC SE]
* Pacara (Created 2019: Rise of the Resistance Ride) [MID RIM, GALACTIC SW]

6 NEW planets, no source in Canon or Legends
* Xibariz [INNER RIM, GALACTIC NE]
* Guagenia [INNER RIM, GALACTIC SSW]
* Bernilla [INNER RIM, GALACTIC S]
* Blutopia [EXPANSION REGION, GALACTIC S]
** (Probable Homeworld of Rogue 1 Alien: Blutopian)
* Oshira [MID RIM, GALACTIC SSE]
* Ketzali [MID RIM, GALACTIC E]

 

"Chaakril" would be Chaaktil, I believe. And Blutopia's certainly the Blutopian homeworld, which links to Galaxy's Edge via Oga Garra.

 

Guagenia is from Lando's Luck (the Guagenian Star Sea)
Bernilla is from Lando's Luck (Bernillan silk)
Oshira is from Crash of Fate (Oshiran sapphires)
Ketzali is from Crash of Fate (Lita is a Ketzalian)

@Coherent Axe covered Chaaktil and Blutopia above.

The only one I can't figure out is Xibariz.

 

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Xibariz - Wook says the source is the new SW Galaxy's Edge Traveler's Guide to Batuu book.

 

That's where this map is from in the first place. But like with Blutopia, it's possibly a name for a previously unnamed homeworld or something.

 

Nice Typo Catch, cheers. I've updated.

 

Tole ya there was something good coming.

Yeah, looks like they "made Cantonica fit." I'd disregard that placement.

Also, the Colonies and Inner Rim have their colors switched.

But hey, lots of new placements and some previous map distortions corrected. Hope folks are pleased!

 

Always nice to see some quality mappage, Jason, and especially one incorporating some of the planets from books and comics that we might have worried would be overlooked or forgotten. Trust in Jason!

 

Aww. Hope folks read the book -- Cole Horton did a great job as always, and it's a way to virtually visit Galaxy's Edge, which I miss a lot!

 

@jasonfry I'm assuming you had much (if not all) to do with these new placements. So for that, thank you very much! It made my week—and probably month or more if I know myself.

I was especially excited to see Vardos’ placement, since I’ve been waiting for it with bated breath for a while. What helped you decide the Core was where it belonged? Vardos being well on it’s way to becoming an ecumenopolis, it made complete sense. But it’s proximity to Coruscant surprised me! Why not have it located in the more southern or eastern Core? There’s also much less populated Pillio and Athulla in the system as well, both of which would have been at home in any of the other more rimward regions. I guess I’m wondering what your process was in narrowing it down to an exact spot on the map.

And if you’d be willing, I’d love to hear what your thought process was for Gatalenta, Lespectus, Avedot as well as some of the others that had little to no indication of where they were on the galactic map.

Also are all of these points names of actual planets or of star systems? For example, Bardelberan is one of the points, but we only knew of a Bardelberan 7 from Pirate’s Price before this. Should we assume there is also a planet just called Bardelberan? I ask this mostly because I too have been attempting to keep track of all the new planets in canon and I don’t want to miss any if I can help it.

Most of the new planets are from relatively recent Galaxy’s Edge tie-ins. Had you placed all of these planets before the Traveler’s Guide was in development or did LFL reach out to you for mapping assist on this project? I remember you mentioning that you share your planet database with LFL and that you weigh in on placement options if they ask. In other words, did they ask?

I realized I just asked a lot of you, so I appreciate any response at all

 

Hey Ventrix, glad you're pleased. I was really happy to help shape that map and get some new placements/corrections out there. It had been too long!

Vardos got placed as part of mapping for EA's Rise to Power game. I can't remember the reasons for its precise placement or who dictated it. But I will note that maps on a galactic scale can be deceiving -- there can be unimportant worlds only visited by probe droids that look very close to Coruscant. In general, granted, you wouldn't place a backwater planet in such a spot because it doesn't "feel" right. But when other considerations dictate such a placement, "feel" doesn't mean a hard no.

I believe Gatalenta was approximately placed already, or we at least knew its region. But my memory's fuzzy on that. It's been a long time since there was a big new map!

Other placements are generally driven by a process that's more art than science. (When I screw up, there's no art either.) I generally determine look at all the placements from a given novel/game/TV show, because you can suss out clues to duration/direction of travel and get an overall feel that supports the storytelling. Sometimes one of those planets gives you a starting point, even if it's just a region; other times you have nothing. Proximity to the frontier is often a key clue; for ST placements the presence/visibility of the First Order helps determine placements, particularly in a pre-TLJ story. Parnassos, for instance, wound up being a pretty logical placement -- I think you can look at where it wound up on the map and see the thinking behind it.

But sometimes you do things in reverse, seeing a chance to fill an underutilized part of the map with an arc of systems that somehow relate to each other.

Mapping is about star systems, not planets -- Vardos was a chore because it has three different planets (IIRC) and it wasn't immediately clear that they were part of the same system. The most important idea in naming is that the name shown on the map is what most ordinary galactic citizens would call that star system by way of shorthand. Bardelberan 7 would be a moon, though there are exceptions to that nomenclature. (Bardelberan VII would normally be a planet.) Based on the moon's name, I would assume there's also a planet and star called Bardelberan, but that's an assumption -- future storytelling might say the home planet and/or star are named something else. What shouldn't change (though, again, it occasionally does) is the idea that the name on the map is the name in common galactic usage.

(If this drives you crazy, you should see the emails I get from frustrated Wookieepedians.)

Re this specific project, I was asked to look at a placeholder map for Traveler's Guide, saw the chance to tie in a whole bunch of projects related to Batuu, and volunteered to produce the draft map. As part of that work, I also fixed a couple of faulty placements from earlier projects and threw in some stuff I thought folks would like to see. There's another, more detail-oriented map in that book that I'm excited about, though I haven't seen the final version. Here's hoping all turned out correctly.

Ask me about this stuff any time; if I have time I'll answer what I can. I'm going to keep pushing for a new Atlas appendix and a new map that would be really big. Can't make promises given the normal competition for resources at LFL and the further stress put on those resources by COVID et al, but I'll sure try!

 

Wow I totally forgot about that Rise to Power game. Is it still even happening? I’m pretty sure it was announced literally years ago.

Your process makes a lot of sense. And the more I think about it, the more I realize we’re almost always told something about a world that hints at where it may be located. Even if that something is extremely vague and leaves open many possibilities.

The common galactic usage naming on maps is understandable and I kind of assumed as much. And how am I now just learning that numbers like 7 mean a moon and roman numerals like VII mean a planet?! Though, yeah, that isn’t always consistent. I’ve seen Yavin 4 and IV interchanged all the time.

I’m guessing that detailed-oriented map is part of the “Day Trips from Batuu” section of the book. Although I don’t see myself being able to go to Galaxy’s Edge any time soon because money, I might have to get this book just for that. The detailed Moddell sector map in the Rebel Files had me drooling, so if it’s anything like that I’ll be a very happy camper.

As for a new updated Atlas appendix and map, I’m sure it’ll happen at some point down the line if you keep showing interest. The Reddit post that first revealed the new map got a thousand upvotes and hundreds of comments so the fan interest is definitely still there!

 

Darn, the Batuu book isn't available on Amazon until later this month...

 

So if Atollon is in the Ash Worlds rather than the Lothal/Dominus sector (and I think its placement within the Lothal sector was always a little bit of conjecture), I suppose that throws the placement of the Archaeon Nebula (cited as the route to Dantooine) into doubt too.

 

I just overlaid this with the rest of my map database I use for swgalaxymap.com and I noticed a few other planets that are a bit off. I'm thinking that Acho-To is another one they "made fit" since it's off the page in my data. Jedha is also coming out a good ways south than I have it placed. Finally having a location for Vardos is huge, since that's a big chunk of the emails I get about missing data.

 

Just saw you updated your map and site in may, nice! Was waiting for that a while. But why did you never reply to my email months ago?

Please let me know once you added this maps latest updates to your downloadeable high res version, thx!

 

Sorry I never got back to you, what was the email about? I get a TON of emails and I read all of them but I'm really bad about replying. A few months ago I started a big overhaul on the database for the map and that's been where most of my efforts have been. It also means that my method for replying to emails is a bit outdated. I used to reply on people emailing me to catch missing data/new canon planets and I'd email back when I made the update in the database. My new version has everything listed on Wookiepedia as of a few months ago and I'm in the process of reconciling that with what I already have and adding the points for planets that were previously missing, but that also means I probably won't be getting to those emails for a while.

I'll make sure to post here when I put out new updates though.

 

This also makes me wonder about Vardo's during the time of the Republic. When I heard Idens father was the one to bring Vardos into the Empire I assumed it was beyond the Outer Rim where Republic authority was tenuous even before TCW. Having it in the core, and apparently relatively close to Coruscant at that makes the galactic government a lot more patchy than I expected in that area of the galaxy.

 

I was asking about a downloadeable version of the extra large map you have searcheable on the main page. With all the tiny details the other downloadeable map does not have, or back then did not have yet, like the TROS planets added.

I love your latest update from May!

What about the other planets from the TOR MMO though in the Unknown Regions? Odessen f.e.?

 

That's going to be a project for another day. I'm trying to set up the map so that generating updated versions of the downloadable map is as automated as possible, but one of the things that makes that possible is having limited numbers of planets labeled. There are so many planets that adding the next tier of planets to symbolize and label makes the cartography a lot more complicated to maintain legibility. The current version of the map has 566 planets labeled for tiers 1 and 2. If I add the next tier that goes up to 1600, which includes a lot of planets that are clustered close together.

I haven't played TOR in probably 7 years and I don't remember if it has a good galaxy map interface with everything labeled. If it does, send me some screenshots. My method for placing planets is:

1. Reference maps (canon or legends)
2. Wookiepedia references with region/sector/grid

At the very least I need a region and grid reference before I'll add anything to the map just so I know I'm getting it in approximately the right spot.

 

@jasonfry, could I get more information on the "previous map distortions corrected"

I love the behind the scenes information on work done on these sort of Maps.

 

OK, SW:tOR Map. I've done some basic research into this.

There was a large update to the map, and it went from looking like This to looking like This: New Republic Map & Sith Empire Map

The new map is rotated slightly, so the Western Region ("Unknown Regions") looks like the Northern Region

There are 6 Regions

* Unknown Regions (West of the Correctly-oriented Map)
* Seat of the Empire (North on the Correctly-oriented Map)
* Hutt Space (East on the Correctly-oriented Map)
* Distant Outer rim (South on the Correctly-oriented Map)
* Coreworld (Central on the Map)
* Wildspace (ONLY on the New Map)

What planets are there?

• Unknown Region (From Right to Left)
  • First Sector - No Points of Interest
    
  • Second Sector
    
    • Sith - Space Mission: Far Cradle Strike
  • Third Sector
    
    • Sith - Space Mission: Ascendancy Barrier
    • BOTH Maps. Planet: Ilum
    • Map - Space Mission: Zosha Advance
  • Forth Sector
    
    • (Left Top) Republic - Space Mission: The Impossible Sector
    • (Left Mid) Sith - Space Mission: Clouds of Vondoru
    • (Left Bot) Republic - Space Mission: Ragant Station Assault
    • (Right Top) Republic - Space Mission: Ardis Outpost Fortification
    • (Right Mid) BOTH. Planet: CZ-198
    • (Right Bot) Sith - Space Mission: Aeten Defence
  • Fifth Sector
    • Republic - Space Mission: Kalee Fortification
  • Sixth & Seventh Sector - No Points of Interest
  • Eights Sector
    • Sith - Space Mission: Duma Strike
• Seat of the Empire
  • Above the Region
    • Both. Planet: Oricon
  • First Sector - West, Bottom Prong
    • Republic - Space Mission: Hydian Way Blockade
    • BOTH Planet: Taris
    • Sith - Space Mission: Nez Peron Sweep
  • Second Sector - Still Bottom Prong, No Points of Interest
  • Third Sector - Top of the Top Prong, Main Body
    
    • (Where Prongs Join, Left) BOTH: Planet: Zoist
    • (Where Prongs Join, 2nd Left) Sith - Planet: Korriban
    • (Where Prongs Join, 3rd Left) Sith - Planet: Dromund Kaas
      
    • (Bottom Prong) BOTH: Planet: Yavin 4
  • Fourth Sector - Left & Bottom of the Top Prong
    
    • Sith Space Mission: Kanz Minefield
  • Fifth Sector - Right & Bottom of the Top Prong
    • Sith Space Mission: Skaross Fortification
  • Sixth & Seventh Sector - Main Body
    
    • Where the Empire Fleet is
  • Eight Sector - On the Tail
    
    • Republic Space Mission - Makem Te Assault
  • Ninth & Tenth Sector - On the Tail, No Points of Interest
  • Eleventh Sector - End of the Tail
    • Republic Space Mission - Baros Ambush
• ... I'll do the rest in a bit.