Unknown Regions The Unknown Regions , also referred to as Unknown Space and the Unknown Territories , was a region of the galaxy located in the galactic west beyond the Outer Rim . Largely unexplored throughout galactic history , it remained a mystery to space travelers and served as a source of tales and wonders . Description . At the time of the Galactic Civil War , the Unknown Regions was regarded as an unexplored region that was separated from the galaxy by a labyrinth of solar storms , rogue magnetospheres , black hole s , gravity well s , and things far stranger . Strange creatures were known to inhabit the void . This maze was considered impassable and many exploration ships and probe droid s were lost trying to breach it . By the time of the Battle of Jakku , Imperial computer s at the Jakku Observatory had found a safe route through this maze which involved taking multiple short hyperspace jumps through the maze . This journey took several months . The Ilum system , the Chiss Ascendancy , the planet s the Deep and Rakata Prime , as well as the origin point of Starkiller Base , were located in the Unknown Regions . The watery world of Ahch - To , the site of the First Jedi Temple , was located in the Unknown Regions . According to the Z7 series construction droid Zeta , there were few service centers , mechanics and factories for replacement parts in the Unknown Regions and no self respecting droid ever ventured there . History . Clone Wars . Dating as far back as the Old Republic , the Jedi Order was known to utilize the planet Ilum as a source of kyber crystal s , which were important in the construction of a Jedi ' s lightsaber . At a young age , Jedi youngling s were sent to Ilum to retrieve these crystal s , traveling into the Unknown Regions aboard a ship known as the " Crucible " . Galactic Empire . During the early years of the Galactic Empire , some dissidents , such as Berch Teller , believed that the Empire would extend all the way to the Unknown Regions . The existence of " evil threats " in the Unknown Regions led the Chiss Ascendancy to send the future Grand Admiral Thrawn to forge an alliance with the Galactic Empire . Thrawn made first contact with the Empire by posing as an exile . He eventually gained the trust of Emperor Palpatine and Colonel Wullf Yularen . Following the Batonn insurgency , Thrawn sent his friend Commander Eli Vanto to serve as an Imperial liaison with the Chiss Ascendancy . During the Age of the Empire , the Emperor sent several explorers to explore the Unknown Regions . Many of these explorers were killed while trying to breach the maze that lay to the west of Jakku . Others went mad from isolation . Palpatine ' s efforts to map the Unknown Regions were aided by the Chiss Admiral Thrawn , a native of the Unknown Regions . Following the Battle of Endor , Palpatine ' s former adviser Yupe Tashu advocated that the Empire venture into the Unknown Regions to seek out the source of the dark side of the Force . Palpatine also operated a secret observatory on the planet Jakku which contained powerful ancient computers that generated a computerized three - dimensional map of the Unknown Regions . The Observatory ' s computers dispatched numerous probe droid s to test the routes that the computers had generated . Shortly before the Emperor ' s death at the Battle of Endor , the computers finished their calculations and found a safe path into the Unknown Regions . As a result , the Emperor ' s flagship " Eclipse " was dispatched into the new frontier . Following the Battle of Jakku , Grand Admiral Rae Sloane , Brendol Hux , and other Imperials used these coordinates to travel through the Unknown Regions and rendezvous with the " Eclipse " . First Order . Following the signing of the Galactic Concordance which ended the Galactic Civil War and dissolved the Old Empire , the Imperial remnants retreated from the known galaxy and relocated to the Unknown Regions . There , they established a militaristic remnant faction that became known as the First Order . In 34 ABY , Starkiller Base served as a major base for the First Order . The First Order later used its phantom energy to destroy the Hosnian system , which hosted Hosnian Prime , the capital of the New Republic . The First Order then attempted to use Starkiller Base to destroy the Resistance base on D ' Qar in the Ileenium system in the Outer Rim Territories . However , the Resistance destroyed Starkiller Base , dealing a serious blow to the First Order . Following the destruction of Starkiller Base , Rey traveled to the Unknown Regions world of Ahch - To to seek out Jedi Master Luke Skywalker . A greatly reluctant Skywalker agreed to train her in the Jedi ways . After Rey returned to the wider galaxy in an attempt to redeem Kylo Ren , Skywalker decided to aid the Resistance by using a Force projection to distract Ren during the Battle of Crait so that the Resistance could escape offworld aboard the " Millennium Falcon " with Rey and Chewbacca . The stress created by the Force projection proved too great and Skywalker became one with the Force . Behind the scenes . The Unknown Regions were originally introduced in the " Heir to the Empire Sourcebook " , which was an accompaniment to the Legends novel " Heir to the Empire " . It was brought into canon when the planet Ilum was introduced in the " " episode " The Gathering " . Pablo Hidalgo explained in Rebels Recon that the " borders " of the Unknown Regions were known ( and therefore should be visible on the map of the Galaxy ) but what were within the regions were unknown . This would be in contrast with Wild Space , which was " outside " the known map of the Galaxy ( in other words , ' off the edge of the map ' ) .