Name: Centares
Region: Mid Rim
Sector: Maldrood sector
System: Centares system
Suns: 1: Centares
Orbital position: 4
Moons: 0
Grid coordinates: R-7
Trade routes: Perlemian Trade Route, Triellus Trade Route
Rotation period: 22 standard hours
Orbital period: 402 standard days
Class: Terrestrial
Diameter: 17,900 km
Atmosphere: Breathable
Climate: Temperate
Gravity: Standard
Primary terrain: Mountains, Plains, Urban
Points of interest: Rubyflame Lake, Museum of the Old Republic, The Aviary
Immigrated species: Bith, Humans, Gotals, Sakiyans, Sephi
Primary language(s): Galactic Basic Standard
Government: Imperial governor
Population: 1 billion (85% Human, 15% other)
Major cities: Muracie, Old Town
Major imports: Luxury items, Foodstuffs
Major exports: Industrial goods

Description: Centares was a planet in the Maldrood sector of the Mid Rim. It had a temperate climate and no moons.

It was located in the Maldrood sector on the Perlemian Trade Route at the outermost edge of the Mid Rim, and billed itself as "the last civilized stop before the wild and woolly Outer Rim". Its population was estimated to be about one billion.

For millennia, certain scholars believed Centares to be part of the historic Kiirium Reaches conquered by Xim's empire roughly a century prior to the founding of the Galactic Republic. This was based on the prevalence of the name "Astigone"—a world noted in Tionese documents from the Pre-Republic era—among the world's luxury resorts. This theory was ultimately disproved when the Corellian historian Bleys Harand uncovered evidence that the Kiirium Reaches were in fact the Ash Worlds of the Outer Rim Territories.

During the Clone Wars, Centares and the Maldrood sector joined the Separatists. CIS forces and Republic Troops clashed in the Battle of Centares in the early stages of the Clone Wars.

In the waning days of the Galactic Republic, Centares called itself "the jewel of the Mid Rim," drawing traders and tourists from across the galaxy. However, the Galactic Empire tapped its lava beds and strip mined its magnificent prairies, turning it into a grimy, polluted factory world within a decade, when its resources expired and the Empire moved on. Centares endeavored to rebound, and its cities and spaceports like Muracie were still teeming, but no tourists were forthcoming.

Most representative of the depredations of the Empire was Rubyflame Lake, which once held clear, shallow, geothermally-heated water colored red by suspended silica. After the Empire, the waters retained their reddish cast, but were tainted by pollutants capable of dissolving flesh in minutes.

From Centares, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa tracked a House of Tagge Mining Explorer to Achtnak Turbine Station on Yavin 4.

It was on this planet that Darth Vader killed Beilert Valance, inspiring Tyler Lucian to suicide rather than betray the name of Luke Skywalker to Vader. Despite Lucian's sacrifice, Vader learned the name of Luke Skywalker from Thurlow Harris whom he interrogated on Centares.

After the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Centares became the capital of the Greater Maldrood, an Imperial faction established by High Admiral Treuten Teradoc.

When Grand Admiral Zsinj was killed, Teradoc declared himself "High Admiral of the Mid Rim" and found himself in the middle of a war between Admirals Teren Rogriss of the Empire and Gial Ackbar of the New Republic. Teradoc was eventually defeated by the New Republic forces and he was forced to abandon the Greater Maldrood to the New Republic and flee to the Deep Core.

In 26 ABY, the entire Maldrood sector was conquered by the Yuuzhan Vong after four battles against the New Republic, including one on Centares.

Rubyflame Lake

Rubyflame Lake was a lake located on the planet Centares.

Located near Muracie, Rubyflame Lake's waters possessed a red glow as a result of running above an active lava flow. When the Galactic Empire tapped the planet's accessible lava flows to produce geothermal power, the lake suffered. Within ten years it was corrupt with deadly acids and toxic chemicals.