Base Delta Zero

Base Delta Zero is the codename for what is essentially the destruction of a world and destruction of most life forms on it.

Definition of Base Delta Zero

Described in the Imperial Sourcebook as "the systematic complete destruction of all 'assets' of production, including factories, arable land, mines, fisheries, and all sentient beings and droids."

The entire crust of the planet is reduced to a molten slag, and further effects may occur (Such as vapourizing oceans, blasting off of the planet's atmosphere etc').

Effects of a BDZ

The BDZ operation is truly catastrophic, reducing "a civilized world to slag" and rendering "a planet's surface to smoking debris in a matter of hours." Notable BDZ operations have left worlds uninhabitalbe nearly 40 years after the BDZ was perfomed on it (ref. Spectre of the Past, p. 166) and have left worlds with no atmosphere and completely atomized top soil (ref. Scavenger Hunt, p.3)

Timeframe of a BDZ

Going by pg. 89 of the Star Wars Technical Journal, which states that a world can have its surface reduced to "smoking debris in a matter of hours" the time limit on a BDZ operation can be placed within a few hours, however, the exact time required is not known.