Arcturus is the common name of Alpha Bootis, a K2III red giant
star 41
light-years
from Sol. Arcturus is 22 times as large as Earth's sun, but
only 1.5 times as massive.
There are ten planets (twelve, if you count the worldlings).
As a
red giant, Arcturus has a larger habitable zone than smaller stars like
Sol, extending from roughly 7 AU out to 22 AU from the center of the
system. There are two inhabitable planets and at least one
possible candidate for terraforming within this distance. The
sixth planet, Aether, is
the destination of the Voyager mission, and upon arrival will be the
site of mankind's first extra-solar colony. In the distant
past, all of
the planets inhabitable in the Arcturian system were frozen
and
lifeless, but the star's expansion has warmed them considerably.
The colonization team, in an effort to inspire a sense of cultural
identity among the population, held a population-wide drawing to choose
the name of each of the major substellar bodies in the new system.
As
such, they are a diverse group of names with no common theme.
Wight (Arcturus
I)
An airless body that orbits close to the primary. It has been
burnished by the heat of Arcturus' flare up and has one of the highest
known albedos of a natural object.
Tavly (Arcturus
II)
This planet is an inferno, wracked by geological activity and runaway
volcanism, with a thick, poisonous atmosphere. Lava seas can
easily be made out from space.
Satyr (Arcturus III)
A high-gravity venusian hothouse.
Ozymandias (Arcturus IV)
A striking world with an unusual marbled appearance. The
terrain
consists of vast sandy deserts and extensive fissures, chasms, and
canyons snaking across the surface. Ozymandias has a
breathable
atmosphere, but not much in the way of natural resources, and Aether is
a much more suitable planet, but in the future Ozymandias may also be
colonized.
Aether (Arcturus
V)
This planet is the site of the Arcturus project, mankind's first
globally organized, extrasolar colony, and destination of the first
several vessels in the Voyager and Connestoga series of bulk
transports. Aether is rather similar to Earth.
Talos
First and smallest of three gas giants in the Arcturus system.
It
is a brown-white world a little larger than Uranus and more than twice
as massive. It
has four named moons: Hactar, Gort, Kent, and Pipsqueak.
The
Worldlings
The worldlings are planetary bodies that precede and follow Talos at
the planet's trojan points. Worldling A is mars-like and
supports
a thin atmosphere, so it may make a good candidate for terraforming in
the future.
Phaeton
The second Arcturian gas giant, a violet, ringed planet around the size
of Jupiter, but over
30% more massive. The planet has five named moons: Heritage,
Dancer, Dream, Poxy, and Cyclopes. Cyclopes possesses an (unbreathable) atmosphere.
Overlord
The most imposing planet in the Arcturian system is
this black-and-red gas giant.
It is nearly eight times as massive as Jupiter, and
1.6
times as large (theorized to exceed maximum Jovian size due to
internal
heating of unknown cause). Overlord has nine named moons:
Radix,
Underling, Shadow, Macbeth, Demesne, Andreas, Rex, Tesla, and Ahmed's
Jilt. Of these, Tesla is the most intriguing, due to the strong
electrical discharges that occur constantly in its atmosphere. It
is unknown whether this is an effect of radiation from Overlord or if
Tesla itself generates the power somehow, but it far exceeds the worst
thunderstorms on Earth in both duration and ferocity.
Vongi
A rocky and airless world.
Bai
A tiny body on an eccentric orbit far on the outskirts of the system.
Someone has planted a sign at the north pole that reads "Last
rest area for 41 LY"
