Sol System
From ExodusWar
| Sol System | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Sol Sector | |
| Stellar Class | G2V Yellow | |
| Planets | Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto | |
The Sol System consists of the star Sol, the nine planets, the moons, and billions of asteroids.
In order of their distances from Sol, the planets are Mercury, Venus, Terra, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Six of the nine planets are orbited by moons. All the planets except Terra are named after gods and goddesses from Greek and Roman mythology.
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[edit] Stellar Navigation
Sol is the Sol System's only star. Sol is a class G2V yellow dwarf. Sol has a strong heliosphere with a particle windspeed of roughly 1.5 million kilometers per hour. Starship navigation is affected by Sol's heliosphere, but it is not a hazard except for the occasional stellar storm.
The Sol System is located in the Milky Way galaxy, in the Orion Arm. Sol is the center of Terran civilization, and the local star systems are all part of the Sol Sector. The Alpha Centauri System, Proxima Procyon System, and Tau Ceti System are considered close neighbors of Sol.
[edit] Mercury
Mercury (0.4AU) is the closest planet to Sol. Its natural shape is almost smooth, with only a few impact craters and ridges. Mercury used to have an atmosphere, but it was completely obliterated by solar wind some time in the past. Mercury has a large metal core and almost no mantle to speak of. The crust is rich with highly radioactive materials, which the Terrans mine for power sources.
[edit] Venus
Venus (0.7AU) is close in size to Terra and has a similar composition. Terraformation efforts reduced the thickness of the Venus atmosphere, and the average surface temperature to 3°C, with maximum temperatures near 90°C. The greatest achievement in terraformation was the jump-starting of Venus' magnetic field, which keeps the now-breathable atmosphere intact.
[edit] Terra
Terra (1AU) is the largest and densest of the terrestrial planets, and is the standard that most inhabitable worlds are measured by. It has one moon, Luna, which is also inhabitted and currently being terraformed.
[edit] Mars
Mars (1.5 AU) is smaller than Terra and Venus. Terraformation efforts have given it a slightly thin atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen. The surface is peppered with vast volcanoes such as Olympus Mons and rift valleys such as Valles Marineris. Without the seismic activity providing geothermal heat, Mars would not be inhabitable. Mars has two moons, Deimos and Phobos.
[edit] Asteroid Belt
The Ceres Belt (2.3AU) is a belt of mostly small asteroids, composed largely of rocky and metallic non-volatile minerals. The belt occupies the orbit between Mars and Jupiter, between 2.3 and 3.3 AU from Sol. Terrans use the belt asteroids to harvest resources valuable for creating composite materials. The belt contains millions of objects over a kilometer in diameter, and are an effectively limitless source of resources.
[edit] Ceres
Ceres (2.77AU) is the largest asteroid in the Ceres Belt, and the belt takes its name from Ceres. with a diameter slightly under 1000km. Ceres is an important landmark in the belt, and is home to dozens of starports, shipping hubs, and warehouses for the materials harvested from the belt.
[edit] Jupiter
Jupiter (5.2 AU) masses 2.5 times as much as all other planets put together. It is composed largely of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter's strong internal heat creates a number of semi-permanent features in its atmosphere, such as cloud bands and the Great Red Spot. Jupiter has sixty-three moons. The four largest, Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and Europa have all begun the terraformation process and are inhabitted.
[edit] Saturn
Saturn (9.5 AU) is famous for its rings, and has a similar atmosphere as Jupiter. Saturn has fifty-nine moons, none of which have been developed yet.
[edit] Uranus
Uranus (19.6 AU) has a much colder core than the other gas giants, and radiates very little heat into space. Uranus has twenty-seven moons, which have barely been charted.
[edit] Neptune
Neptune (30 AU) is made largely of water, and has been extensively harvested for the terraformation projects of Venus and Mars. Neptune has thirteen moons, which have been outfitted with multiple domed environments for the processing and shipping of harvested water.
[edit] Kuiper Belt
The Kuiper Belt (30AU) is a ring of debris similar to the asteroid belt, but composed mainly of ice. It extends between 30AU and 50AU from Sol. While there are resources to be exploited here, they have not been touched yet and remain unblemished.
[edit] Pluto
Pluto (39AU) is the largest known object in the Kuiper Belt. It is the ninth and last planet in the system. It has an eccentric orbit and ranges from 29.7AU to 49.5AU from Sol. Pluto was the site of the Empire's hazardous weapons laboratories.
[edit] Oort Cloud
Sol's Oort Cloud is a great mass of up to a trillion icy objects that is believed to be the source for all long-period comets and surrounds the Sol System at around 50,000AU, and possibly to as far as 100,000 AU.
[edit] Sedna
Sedna is a large, reddish object sighted in the early 21st Century. It has a highly elliptical orbit that takes it from about 76AU to 928AU and takes 12,050 years to complete. Terrans hoped to visit this object and discover what it actually was, but were unable to do so when hyperspace was discovered. The object's orbit is actually erratic and unpredictable, and has since been lost. It is believed that Sedna is a small planet, but until its correct orbit is calculated it can't be certain.
[edit] History
The history Sol's discovery in the era of the Anthronoris is completely unknown. Since the Sundering, Sol has always been known to humanity: it is the source of life for the Terran race.
