Acantha

Acantha is a terrestrial planet, more specifically a super-earth orbiting Iocante in the Goldilocks Zone. The planet is much more massive then the Earth, but the differences are insignificant enough to still host life, very similar to humans.
== About ==
Acantha is a super-earth and it's density is higher than Earth's. this is due to Acantha's massive amounts of heavy elements and countless useful minerals. The only thing Acantha faces a shortage of is liquid water. the planet is rich in oxygen, though.The hydrogen found in the atmosphere is only present in water wapor. 56% of the planet's surface is covered with water. By mass, it's still more water than on Earth, but in relation to the planet's size, it isn't too much. 37% of the planet's atmosphere is made out of oxygen, which, considering the planet's size is a lot of oxygen. The atmosphere is filled with other gases too. Acantha has 2 moons, Hemera and Cassopeia. Both moons may be useful for future mining operations.
== Ice ages ==
Acantha has an Earth like climate, but with a few differences though. Similarly to Earth, Acantha also goes through natural temperature changes. For a period of time it's warmer than average, and sometimes it goes way below that value.
The average temperature is 13,7°C. The highest temperature was during the last great warming of the planet. At that time, the average temperature was 21,4°C. This isn't too much, only 6-7°difference. However, the lowest temperature was during an ice age 274000 years ago. At that point, the coldest place of the planet, Eldride's peak, had a temperature of -89,7°C. The planet's average temperature was way over that with "only" -42,9°C.
Acantha goes through an ice age between every 120000-127000 years. During these ice ages, about 53% of all life dies out. Interestingly, Acanthan species take cold temperatures much better than warmer ones. When the planet is warming up after it's ice age, and reaches the peak (about 27000-31000 years after the ice ages end, about 8% of life forms die. These mostly include plants. Despite how much more species die during ice ages, the temperatures have to drop drastically for that to happen, while, during the warming peiod, only 6-7°changes can be fatal for many species.
== Life ==
The planet is ~4.17 billion years old, and life arose, approximately 3.79 billion years ago. Now it's covered with forests and filled with various Acanthan species. This includes a humanoid species as well. Evolution does a quick job on Acantha, since the native species seem to evolve in a faster rate than Earth's. Acanthan species are obviously different from Earth's, but still similar. The biggest difference is in their bone and muscle structure. Due to the larger gravity of over 1.3 G's and the Oxygen enrichment of the atmosphere, the native species had to evolve much stronger muscles than here on Earth.
== Atmosphere ==
Composition of dry Acanthan atmosphere at sea level, by volume
Gas (and others)	Gas (and others)	Volume 	Volume 	Volume
Gas (and others)	Gas (and others)	 ppmv 	 ppbv 	percentile
Nitrogen 	(N2) 	546,021 	546,021,000 	(54,602%)
Oxygen 	(O2) 	372,311 	352,011,000 	(37.711%)
Carbon dioxide 	(CO2) 	52,196 	52,196,431 	(5.2196%)
Argon 	(Ar) 	1,008 	1,008,078 	(0.1008%)
Helium 	(He) 	83.6 	83,621 	(0.0083%)
Xenon 	(Xe) 	42.8 	42,804 	(0.0042%)
Methane 	(CH4) 	11.7 	11,743 	(0.00117%)
Hydrogen 	(H2) 	2.77 	2,770 	(0.000277%)
Nitrous oxide 	(N2O) 	0.40 	400 	(0.00004%)
Carbon monoxide 	(CO) 	0.1 	100 	(0.00001% )
Nitrogen dioxide	(NO2) 	0.067 	67 	(0.0000067%)
Ozone 	(O3) 	0.061 	61 	(0.0000061%)
Sulphur dioxide 	(SO2) 	trace 	trace 	trace
Trace to 30 ppm 	(----) 	- 	- 	-
Air total 	(air) 	1,000,000.000	1,000,000,000	(100.0000000%)
== Life forms ==
Acanthan life forms are similar to Earth's. Many of them are based on already existing species from our planet. The life forms can be reviewed in a separate list, here:
Category:ZackeryPines
Category:Worlds
Category:Bodies with life
Category:Iocante system
Category:Planets
Category:Acantha