The Jerne system was situated in the Kanz sector, which itself was part of the New Territories region within the larger Outer Rim Territories. Within this system existed the planet called Jerne, which had two moons orbiting it and once served as the homeworld for the Jerni species. However, by the time of 0 ABY, the Jerni had not lived on Jerne for millennia. At some point in the past, Humans had colonized the planet, and the Galactic Empire later established a base there.
Sometime between 0 ABY and 3 ABY, the Rebel heroes Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa journeyed to this system. Their goal was to locate an artifact known as the Eternity Crystal, which they believed was on Jerne. During their time there, Skywalker and Organa were attacked by multiple Imperial TIE fighters, leading to their starship crashing on the planet. After discovering that the crystal was not real, the Rebels departed Jerne using a stolen Imperial scout ship.
The Jerne system's initial appearance occurred in the comic story titled "Dark Knight's Devilry". Steve Moore wrote the story, Alan Davis provided the illustrations, and it was first published in January 1982 within the pages of The Empire Strikes Back Monthly 153. The reference book The Essential Atlas, written by Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace in 2009, was the first to give the system its name and placed it in grid square N-4.