Why was air on Mustafar breathable ?

[Sarevok]

Mustafar appeared to be covered in lava and lacking in any plant or animal life. So why did it have a breathable atmosphere ? Without an ecosystem where did the oxygen come from ?

[Admiral Johnason]

There could be O2 plants on the planet. You know like air factories.

[Darth Fanboy]

Mustafar appeared to be covered in lava and lacking in any plant or animal life. So why did it have a breathable atmosphere ? Without an ecosystem where did the oxygen come from ?

There are native Mustafarians, so the conditions on the planet must have been suitable for some form of life.

[Srynerson]

While there was a Mustafarian ecosystem which could include some form of life whose respiration process generates oxygen, it may be added that oxygen can also be produced through inorganic chemical processes, such as the decomposition of sodium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, or lithium perchlorate under high temperatures. It could be that Mustafar has substantial deposits of these chemicals in its crust which give rise to regions of oxygen "outgassing". (I admit, it's highly unlikely, but it can explain breatheable atmospheres in the absence of significant vegetation.)

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

Are the Mustafarians specifically said to be native to the moon we see in the movie? Sidious told Vader to go to the "Mustafar system", so it's possible that the "native" life you see on that planet evolved on another moon or even another planet in the system.

[Illuminatus Primus]

We know from Kessel they have air factories and we know from Coruscant that they have weather/climate-control machines. I'm not distressed by that.

I'm more distressed by what was in the air that reacted under the heat from the shield disruptions (the bolts going-through the bursts clinches this on the opposite side of the flak burst assertion, to head off that ugly thing) on the LAAT/i's under AA fire that created those opaque clouds during the battle of Geonosis (which similarly shouldn't support an oxygen, human-friendly atmosphere and climate).

[Lord Revan]

it's should be noted that apart from Jedi/Sith and Clonetroopers, no non-native lifeform were seen outside the instalation so it's possible it had O2 factories (there's few large vents in the landing platform)

[Darth Raptor]

While there was a Mustafarian ecosystem which could include some form of life whose respiration process generates oxygen, it may be added that oxygen can also be produced through inorganic chemical processes, such as the decomposition of sodium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, or lithium perchlorate under high temperatures. It could be that Mustafar has substantial deposits of these chemicals in its crust which give rise to regions of oxygen "outgassing". (I admit, it's highly unlikely, but it can explain breatheable atmospheres in the absence of significant vegetation.)

Like you said, that's highly unlikely. Mustafar's ecosystem can't possibly be native, and its oxygen is almost certainly created artificially by colonists.

[VT-16]

The Mustafarians evolved from extremophilic arthropods whose natural habitat was the slightly cooler hollows and caves inside Mustafar's dormant volcanoes. They fashioned armor from Mustafarian lava fleas to protect themselves from the hotter lava flows on the surface which separated Mustafarian townships. They also used lava fleas as riding animals. Even without lava flea armor, Mustafarian skin was tough enough to resist standard blaster bolts. Mustafarians used weapons which fired bolts of kinetic force instead.

From the wiki-article, but I think this is straight from a fact book.

[RedImperator]

It shouldn't have been breathable even if they were pumping oxygen into it. Mustafar's atmosphere should have been saturated with CO2, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, carbon monoxide, and other fun stuff, not to mention it would have been hotter than hell (greenhouse effects from water vapor and CO2 as well as the heat of the lava itself). I just figured the landing pad area had a force field protecting it, and Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Palpatine were doing some Force related something to keep from suffocating on the surface. The idea that anyone would bother trying to create a breathable atmosphere for Mustafar, especially when the only things capable of working on its surface are droids anyway, it just absurd.

[Darth Fanboy]

From the SW Databank entry on Mustafar

Despite the hellish nature of its environment, Mustafar has nonetheless produced native life capable of surviving in the fiery extremes of the planet. The sentient Mustafarians -- of which two notable subspecies exist -- paid little heed to the galactic events that culminated on their world. They went about their business, gathering precious minerals and energy from the lava streams, riding their massive lava fleas across the stygian lands.

From the SW Databank entry on Mustafarians

(films)

Despite the planet's extreme conditions, Mustafar has spawned a number of native life-forms. Some of these have even evolved sentience. The native Mustafarians care little about the offworlder concerns on their planet. They simply busy themselves harvesting the minerals carried in the lava streams of their world.

(EU)

Evolved from extremophile arthropods with very little water in their biology, the Mustafarians dwell in the cooler hollows of dormant volcanic mountains. They ventured to the surface world, following a trail blazed by the native lava fleas. Recycling discarded flea shells as armor, the various Mustafarian colonies made contact with one another. They stitched together a loose collection of townships through peaceful trade, banding together in the face of their planet's unforgiving elements.

A link for the lazy.

[Kane Starkiller]

Perhaps the volcanic activity has increased only recently (in geological terms) by planet moving closer to the gas giant.

[Dooey Jo]

Maybe the planet is made mostly of some strange compound other than granite, so the volcanoes don't produce the noxious chemicals Earthly volcanoes produce. Unlikely, maybe, but I guess there has to be reason why they use the planet. It's not like normal lava would be hard to find in large quantities in more hospitable environments elsewhere in the galaxy...

[RedImperator]

Perhaps the volcanic activity has increased only recently (in geological terms) by planet moving closer to the gas giant.

How would extreme thermophiles evolve in that time frame, then? And at any rate, it would take a matter of hours, not any time frame that could be called "geological", for the atmosphere to become unbreathable with the moon in that condition.

Maybe the planet is made mostly of some strange compound other than granite, so the volcanoes don't produce the noxious chemicals Earthly volcanoes produce.

Magic lava?

Unlikely, maybe, but I guess there has to be reason why they use the planet. It's not like normal lava would be hard to find in large quantities in more hospitable environments elsewhere in the galaxy...

There are probably rare minerals in the mantle which are brought up by the volcanoes, making the expense and bother of mining the lava worthwhile.

There's no need to try to rationalize a breathable atmosphere on Mustafar. The only people we saw who were unambiguously unprotected from it were Jedi, who are known to be able to survive in rooms flooded with poison gas. Maybe the Force lets them block molecules of toxic gas from entering their bloodstream, or maybe they can just plain sustain themselves without oxygen or with some kind of reserve of oxygen for a short time. It's not like that's less realistic than lifting X-Wings telekinetically or shooting lighting from your fingertips.

[Covenant]

The air could be oxygen-rich but otherwise filled with toxic chemicals. These would probably not have the same density or veracity as weaponized poison gas, and Red's point is correct and to-the-point. While the air may be mildly toxic, it's hardly difficult to believe that the Jedi could fairly easily ignore the effects of a very low-density sulfer compound.

[Dooey Jo]

Magic lava?

"Duragma", obviously

There's no need to try to rationalize a breathable atmosphere on Mustafar. The only people we saw who were unambiguously unprotected from it were Jedi, who are known to be able to survive in rooms flooded with poison gas. Maybe the Force lets them block molecules of toxic gas from entering their bloodstream, or maybe they can just plain sustain themselves without oxygen or with some kind of reserve of oxygen for a short time.

Actually, that is very much possible. Since we see them talk it would be more probable that it's a "Force air filter" than "Force hold breath" thing (although Obi and Qui-Gon did seem to hold their breaths in TPM).


And the native Mustafarians don't necessarily have to use oxygen to live, they could use CO2, like plants, since that would be abundant in such an environment. Maybe they even produce O2, also like plants. Would be a pretty interesting species I think (but a slow one, considering such reactions wouldn't be very energetic).

[Darth Fanboy]

As far as temperature goes the Mustafarians seem to have evolved from arthropods, and we have those living down near hydrothermal vents in the deep ocean so that part I can understand. Those organisms also have a lower oxygen requirement IIRC.

In KOTOR II there is an ability which allows the Exile to move through rooms with air that is toxic to humans, perhaps that ability was put into place by Obi Wan and Anakin?

[Kurgan]

In the movie we do see "workers" in protective suits surfing on the lava. Are these supposed to be "native Mustafarians"?

[NeoGoomba]

"Duragma", obviously

Aww and I thought it was Hyperlava, hence its nature-defying powers

[Noble Ire]

In the movie we do see "workers" in protective suits surfing on the lava. Are these supposed to be "native Mustafarians"?

Yes.
Although I still think they should be Verpine colonists in environmental suits. Their body structure is almost identical.

[Tychu]

Mustafar appeared to be covered in lava and lacking in any plant or animal life. So why did it have a breathable atmosphere ? Without an ecosystem where did the oxygen come from ?

we had something similar to this before and im going to answer similary?sp? yeah thats state university/public school teaching for you. stupid 1980's phonetics i dont even think i spelt that right

in one of the bonus features for EpIII dvd the guy says that he tried to make Mustafar with earthlike lava

there you go thats the answer. seeing that on this planet we only know what lava is really like on this planet with this gravitational properties with this ecosystem that we have on this planet. On another planet and another time lava and other things could have been much different. especially with Star Wars level tech it could just blow our understanding out of the water and do what ever it wants with a ecosystem

according to Kardashevs civilizations

Star Wars would be a Type II on the verge of III
in that it controls the power of a planet, and also it controls all power coming from the star and it is on the verge of understanding all the power of its galaxy.

Todays earth is a Type 0
ie we are dumb, very dumb. we screw up our ecosystem and we die