Table of Contents
Ixar System
Note. I am going to go through this and perform actual calculations to make the orbital periods accurate, but I am just getting the basic feel of each planet down for right now. I'm aware the orbital periods are not 100% consistent with the orbital radius yet. Please ignore that inconsistency for now.
The Ixar System is the stellar system comprised of the star Verdai, the eleven planets and Eliar orbiting it, and the other minor objects within its gravitational sphere of influence (primarily within its two asteroid belts and its shell cloud).
Major Bodies
The major bodies of the Ixar System are grouped into five categories. The rocky planets, the liquid giant Larxenais, Eliar, the gas giants, and the ice giants.
Rocky Planets
There are seven rocky planets orbiting Verdai. Their orbits vary in radius from 2.8 light minutes to 14 light minutes.
Juliad
Juliad is the closest planet to Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of only 2.8 light minutes. It completes its orbit in 68 days, and is tidally locked to Verdai. It is inhospitable to life, with a surface temperature in excess of 1000 degrees F on the sunny side. It has no atmosphere. It is 7% the mass of Mersia.
Therima
Therima is the next-closest planet to Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 4.2 light minutes. It completes its orbit in 102 days. It is inhospitable to life, with a surface temperature of 600 degrees F. It has a very thin atmosphere, with a surface that is nearly perfectly black, reflecting less than 2% of light. Due to this, it was not discovered until relatively recently in 415 GD. It is 15% the mass of Mersia.
Folst
Folst is the third planet from Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 6 light minutes. It completes its orbit in 150 days. It is inhospitable to life, with an atmosphere comprised entirely of helium and sulfur dioxide. Its atmospheric pressure is 0.7 atm at the surface. It has a surface temperature of 200 degrees F. It is 78% the mass of Mersia.
Unsatha
Unsatha is the fourth planet from Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 8.3 light minutes. It completes its orbit in 320 days. It is hospitable to life, with an atmosphere comprised of 49% nitrogen, 35% oxygen, 10% neon, 2% water vapor, 2% argon, and 1% carbon dioxide and other trace gases. 54% of its surface is covered in water, and it experiences a similar intensity of weather to Mersia. It has an average surface temperature of 74 degrees F. It is known to have an abundance of plant life at its surface, with no detected animal life. It is expected to be colonized by 570 GD, about thirty years from now. It is the most well-studied planet after our own, with hundreds of unmanned missions to its surface, and one manned one-way mission in 520 GD. It is 104% the mass of Mersia, with a surface gravity of 9.9 m/s^2.
Mersia
Mersia is the fifth planet from Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 11.1 light minutes. It completes its orbit in 512 days. It is the basis of all known civilization in the Ixar system, home to sapes, dragons, and nature spirits. Its atmosphere is comprised of 67.52% nitrogen, 28.73% oxygen, 2.4% neon, 1% water vapor, and other trace gases. It has an average surface temperature of 55 degrees F.
Et
Et is the primary moon of Mersia, which has a mass of 20% that of Mersia, resulting in significant tidal forces on Mersia's oceans, as well as significantly improved rotational stability. It completes an orbit exactly 16 times per year, or once per month. Its precise ratio to the standard mersian calendar is considered the strongest evidence for divine intervention in our planet's creation.
Ro
Ro is the second largest moon of Mersia, which has a mass of 13% that of Mersia. It, too, exhibits tidal forces on Mersia, but these are often dwarfed by those due to Et. Its orbital period is twice that of Et, completing an orbit once every two months, or 8 times per year. It is in strong orbital resonance with Lu, resulting in further increased orbital stability between the two moons.
Lu
Lu is the third and final moon of Mersia, which has a mass 7% that of Mersia. It, unlike Et and Ro, does not have a stable orbit. It is on a slowly spiraling collision course with the planet's surface. It is estimated to strike the planet's surface in 16,666 years. However, there is no reason to fear. We have known that this is the planet's fate for thousands of years. We will relocate to Unsatha long before this happens.
Rewilt
Rewilt is the sixth planet from Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 16.6 light minutes. It is inhospitable to life, and has a thin atmosphere comprised mostly of carbon dioxide and oxygen. It completes its orbit in 780 days. It has an average surface temperature of 25 degrees F. Rewilt has a mass 30% that of Mersia.
Kroloid Belt
The kroloid belt is the inner of the two known asteroid belts in the ixar system. It orbits at an average of 28 light minutes from Verdai. It is comprised of roughly 1.6 million asteroids greater than a kilometer in width, and potentially many millions of smaller asteroids. The dwarf planet Pol is within the kroloid belt, which has a mass equal to 0.8% that of Mersia and no known atmosphere.
Liquid Giant
Larxenais
Larxenais is the seventh planet from Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 51.5 light minutes. Uniquely among planets and known exoplanets, this is a toroidal planet. It completes its orbit in 4712 days. It is 90% water by mass with an atmosphere comprised mostly of hydrogen and helium. Its average rotational speed is estimated to one revolution every minute. Its mass is six times that of Mersia, and its average temperature is 130 degrees fahrenheit. There is a massive sapphire at the gravitational centerpoint of the torus. The mass of this gem is 20% that of Mersia, and it rotates at a speed of 154 rpm in the opposite direction of the toroid of water. All electronics aboard the three unmanned missions to this planet ceased functioning before a clear image could be resolved of the planet, indicating extreme electrical fields around this planet. The structure of this planet should not be physically possible, indicating divine interference in its apparent stability. Its axis of rotation is directly perpendicular to its axis of revolution, pointing at Verdai throughout its orbit. The presence of life on (or in) this planet cannot be confirmed or refuted.
Brown Dwarf
Eliar
Eliar is a sub-stellar object which orbits Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 88.8 light minutes. It is a “brown dwarf” with a mass 18,888 times that of Mersia, heavy enough to have initiated fusion of deuterium in its core. Consequently, it is the brightest object in the night sky apart from Et and Ro, even brighter than Lu, providing enough light to cast shadows when Et is a crescent or less, and when Ro is a quarter or less.
Loriwan
Loriwan is the primary moon of Eliar. It is comprised of a sea of magma with an atmosphere of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. It orbits Eliar quite closely, completing an orbit once every 40.3 days. Loriwan has a mass 17 times that of Mersia. It would be the heaviest rocky planet in the ixar system if it were not orbiting Eliar rather than Verdai. It is hypothesized that Loriwan is a captured moon which was originally a planet.
Gas Giants
Bax
Bax is the eighth planet from Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 112 light minutes. It is a gaseous planet with a mass 411 times that of Mersia, comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium. It has a spectacular ring system which extends out to three times its own radius. Its ring system is comprised primarily of captured objects from the adjacent petroid belt. Bax has at least 39 moons. Notable among these are the Baxian Quintet, five moons which are large enough that they would be considered planets if they orbited Verdai. Due to the relative proximity of Bax to Eliar, for about 15% of its orbit, Bax receives more light and heat from Eliar than from Verdai. This fact extends to its many moons.
Felim
Felim is the largest of Bax's moons, with a mass 2.3 times that of Mersia. It is a rocky body with a significant amount of water ice on its surface. It is, like all Baxian moons, tidally locked. It has a moderately thick atmosphere comprised of methane, oxygen, and hydrogen.
Gar
Gar is the second-largest of Bax's moons, with a mass 0.7 times that of Mersia. It is a primarily icy body with much of its mass comprised of water, with a potentially liquid ocean under its surface. No life has been detected on this moon, though a series of unmanned missions with the intent of placing landers on its surface will discover more information shortly.
Mut
Mut is the third-largest of Bax's moons, with a mass 0.6 times that of Mersia. It is a tectonically active rocky body with a reddish orange appearance, due to its high iron content. It is estimated that at any given time, at least five separate quakes are occurring somewhere along its many fault lines.
Yoph
Yoph is the fourth-largest of Bax's moons, with a mass 0.57 times that of Mersia. It is notable for having the highest wind speeds of any body in the Ixar system, with an average wind speed of 3000 mph, and recorded gusts of over 10,000 mph. The exact composition of these gases has been difficult to pinpoint due to the extreme speed of the gases and the thickness of Yoph's atmosphere, but what few readings have been taken suggest a primarily helium and oxygen atmosphere. Something beyond our current understanding dwells within this planet. One unmanned mission was attempted to this moon, but something shot out from the planet's surface and destroyed the probe. No further missions were attempted and none are planned. Such an entity could potentially destroy Mersia were it to be led here.
Vayr
Vayr is the fifth largest of Bax's moons and the smallest of the Baxian Quintet, with a mass 0.52 times that of Mersia. It is a rocky planet with a high iron content in its core, resulting in an unusually small diameter for its mass, and giving it a surface gravity of 7.8 m/s^2. The planet has unusually complex geology, with an intricate system of caves permeating its crust. It has a relatively thick atmosphere of 72% nitrogen, 26% oxygen, 1% argon, and 1% trace gases including carbon dioxide, water vapor, and hydrogen. It is close enough to Bax that it receives a significant amount of radiation from its surface at all times, resulting in an average surface temperature of 63 F.
Petroid Belt
The Petroid Belt is the Ixar System's second asteroid belt, which orbits Ixar at an average of 142 light minutes. It is comprised of roughly 7.9 million asteroids greater than a kilometer in width, and potentially tens of millions of smaller asteroids. The dwarf planet Mawa is within the petroid belt, which has a mass equal to 1.3% that of Mersia and no known atmosphere.
Welin
Welin is the ninth planet from Verdai, orbiting it at a distance of 146 light minutes. It has a mass 27 times that of Mersia, and is comprised primarily of Hydrogen and Helium. It has a faint asymmetric ring system. Welin, like Larxenais, has an axis of rotation perpendicular to its axis of revolution, as well as a strong magnetic field. Welin, and its magnetic field, are responsible for disturbing petroid objects (which have a high iron content) and sending them into Bax's orbital path, where they usually join its ring system if they are not simply disintegrated. Welin has over 400 moons.
Atracha
Atracha is by far the largest moon of Welin, orbiting it at a distance of 3 light seconds. It has a mass nearly identical to that of Mersia, and is comprised of an iron core and a rocky mantle rich in silicon and ice water. Atracha is tidally locked to Welin, which combined with its very short orbital period results in significant tidal heating and a strong magnetic field due to a rotating liquid core. Atracha's auroras are at least thirty times as bright as Mersia's own.
Ice Giants
Jalas
Jalas is the tenth planet from Verdai and the inner of the two ice giants, orbiting it at a distance of 183 light minutes. It has a mass 13 times that of Mersia. It has an atmosphere comprised primarily of hydrogen and helium, with significant amounts of methane which give it a distinct blue hue. It has a large icy core of water and ammonia. Not counting Yoph (a moon), it has the highest wind speed of any planet, with winds reaching up to 300 mph.
Oon
Oon is the eleventh planet from Verdai and the outer of the two ice giants, orbiting Verdai at a distance of 270 light minutes. It has a mass 19 times that of Mersia. Its atmospheric composition is very similar to that of Jalas, comprised of hydrogen and helium, and with a core of methane and ammonia, as well as water. It has four moons, but only one of them was discovered before the advent of space exploration.
Thah
Thah is the largest of Oon's three moons, with a rocky core and a thick atmosphere of nitrogen and methane. It is not tidally locked to Oon, orbiting at a distance of 29 light seconds.
Trans-Oonian Objects
The trans-oonian objects are those objects outside of the orbit of Oon, but not so far away as to be considered part of the Shell Cloud. At least six dwarf planets have been discovered in this zone.
Shell Cloud
The shell cloud is the outermost grouping of objects in the Ixar system, extending from 50 light hours to 1.5 light years. It is where comets come from. Beyond this is interstellar space, firmly outside of the gravitational influence of Verdai.