A Jedi star compass, also known as a Pillio Star Compass or more simply as a Jedi compass, was a piece of ancient astrogational technology similar to a wayfinder that was developed by the Jedi.
The Jedi star compass was a palm-sized circular device. The compass could be open and shut like a locket, held in place by an aurodium clamp. The lid of the compass was engraved with astromeridian etch lines, while the innards of the compass were stylized with a graduated bezel. At the center of the device was a plasma-encased supraluminite lodestone that was attuned to specific points in hyperspace. Luke Skywalker's compass was attuned to a route leading to Ahch-To, where the first Jedi temple was located.
The ancient Jedi discovered ways to navigate the anomalies of the Galactic Barrier to find worlds in the Unknown Regions to serve as staging grounds or temples, but their methods were lost to time, with routes only left in the Jedi star compasses.
One such compass was kept by Emperor Palpatine in an observatory on the planet Pillio. During a mission he undertook to Pillio, the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker found the compass whilst visiting the observatory and took it to keep rather than leave it behind to be destroyed by Del Meeko, who intended to obliterate the observatory.
Sometime later, Ulina told a story that claimed a scavenger gifted Skywalker with the compass shortly after the Battle of Jakku, and that the compass had been found in an Imperial case labeled "Pillio."
Skywalker and explorer Lor San Tekka followed the compass to map out the network of long-lost and long-forgotten Jedi temples throughout the galaxy. The compass became part of a collection of artifacts that Skywalker kept at his Jedi temple on Ossus.
At the time of his Jedi temple's destruction, the compass was sitting on Ben Solo's bedside table when Luke went to confront his nephew. Afterward, Luke used the compass to locate the planet Ahch-To.
In 34 ABY, Skywalker had the compass, along with other items, kept in his home on Ahch-To. Following the Jedi Master's death during the Battle of Crait, Alcida-Auka, matron of the native Caretakers, had the star compass gathered up along with Luke's other possessions and stored in the island's repository.
The compass was designed by Dave Filoni.
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- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Ultimate Sticker Collection
- Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
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