The photosphere represented the external layer of stars, emitting radiant light. In this outer region, nuclear fusion sustained a temperature of roughly 5,500 °C. In the course of the Great Hyperspace Disaster, the Hetzal system faced peril from hyperspace remnants, resulting in a liquid Tibanna container being directed on a path to collide with the system's largest sun. Given the star's R-class designation, such a collision risked triggering an unusual chemical process capable of obliterating all life within the system, prompting the Jedi to launch a mission to alter the container's trajectory. Ultimately, the container penetrated the star's external photosphere, but merely made a glancing blow, emerging heated but otherwise undamaged.