Yahren

A yahren is a Colonial measurement of time, analogous to an Earth year. The plural form is usually the same as the singular, "yahren", although "yahrens" is also used for the Colonial equivalent of "years" in some episodes.

Notes

• Within some fan circles, a yahren is considered to be around two-thirds (2/3) the length of an Earth year, thus helping to explain the relative longevity of Colonial people compared to Terran humans. This reasoning is picked up in Richard Hatch's sequel novels. The glossary in the first novel, Armaggedon, states that a yahren is 200 days.

Usage in the Re-imagined Series

• In the Re-imagined Series, time appears to be measured by the Colonials as is done on Earth with the term year. Since a year is considered the time it takes for the real-world Earth to revolve once around the sun, the use of "year" is confusing, given that the Twelve Colonies consist of several Earth-type worlds that may orbit a sun or series of suns, or even exist in adjacent solar systems and so have revolution times that may differ dramatically. The Fleet stays on New Caprica for 380 "days" before the Cylon fleet arrives, and this is deemed to be approximately a year.
• Curiously, a brief mention of "yahren" appears in the documents visible at Armistice Station in the Miniseries. This should be treated as an homage to the Original Series, and not be taken too seriously, as the prop department has produced errors in some other documents shown on screen.

See also

• Thousand Yahren War
• List of terms (TOS)

Original Series definition: unit of time akin to a "year" (see: Yahren)