The Rhigar system contained a planet of the same name, which hosted a secret military academy operated by the Chiss military group named Syndic Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Household Phalanx, a part of the Empire of the Hand. The nebula's bluish-green haze was visible from Rhigar's surface.
In 19 ABY, Jagged Fel, a Human pilot stationed at Rhigar's academy, noted that rumors about the supposed return of Thrawn, a Chiss Grand Admiral of the Galactic Empire who had died ten years earlier, had recently spread throughout the Rata Nebula. The rumors resulted from a plot by the Imperial Remnant's Sinister Triumvirate of con artist Flim, Moff Vilim Disra, and the clone Grodan Tierce.
The Rata Nebula appeared in the short story "Red Sky, Blue Flame," which was authored by Elaine Cunningham and published in the seventh issue of Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Gamer magazine, released on October 16, 2001. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the nebula in grid squares E-9 and F-9.
The Rata Nebula appeared in the short story "Red Sky, Blue Flame," which was authored by Elaine Cunningham and published in the seventh issue of Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Gamer magazine, released on October 16, 2001. The 2009 reference book The Essential Atlas placed the nebula in grid squares E-9 and F-9.
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. III
- The Essential Atlas