Terran system

The **Terran system**, known internally by the human population as the **Solar System**, is a star system located within the Milky Way galaxy's Orion Arm, in the human—dominated Terran sector. The system is a trade hub, located on the artificial Trans-Galactic Pipeline hyperlane. It is home to a group of humans, originating from Project Ghath and the human galaxy. As in the human galaxy, the human race became the dominant species of their respective galaxy.

## Overview

The Terran system has nine major planets, all orbiting the central star Sol. In the early days of the human race on Earth, the only planets observed and named were the four terrestrial worlds—Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars—and two out of the four "gas giant" planets, Jupiter and Saturn.

### Mercury and Venus

Closest to the parent star Sol is the barren, atmosphere-less world of Mercury. Mercury is dotted with impact craters, and its sunward side reaches scorching temperatures during daytime, while at night the starward side reaches freezing temperatures. Second from Sol is the world Venus. In contrast to Mercury, Venus has a thick atmosphere which makes its daytime *and* nighttime temperatures reach scorching heights. It is believed that originally, Venus was a terrestrial water world like Earth, but an unknown cataclysmic event turned it into a barren, humid desert.

### Earth, Mars and the asteroid belt

Following Venus is the Terran system's namesake, Terra itself, Earth. The homeworld to the Terran humans, Earth is the only of the four terrestrial planets to sustain sentient life. Mars is suspected to have been similar to Earth and Venus in the early days of the solar system, before all of its water dried up and it became a red rock. Now, Mars is home to numerous human colonies, and is also home to a vast terraforming project which aims for Mars to become habitable entirely.

Between Mars and the rest of the solar system is the Inner Asteroid Belt. The Inner Belt is home to numerous minor asteroids and rocks from early solar collisions, herded by Jupiter into the region between the terrestrial and gas giant planets. Within the inner belt, there is also the notable dwarf planet Ceres, which is the largest of these dwarf planets, and the only within the orbit of Neptune. Ceres is home to underground oceans with some microlife, as well as the Deep-Ceres Research Base, located in Ceres' icy mantle.

### The eldest giants

The first gas giant is also the largest—Jupiter. Jupiter has 79 documented moons, the largest of these being the four Galilean moons. Jupiter has a small ring system, and is also important to the survival of Earth. Jupiter's gravity has veered potential catastrophic asteroids off-course, or taken them as its own moon, preventing Earth from sustaining mass extinctions of the human species. Jupiter is also known for its massive windstorm, the Great Red Spot. This storm is several times larger than that of Earth, and has been spinning for centuries. Jupiter is also dotted with similar storms of that nature, some large and some small.

Following Jupiter is the world Saturn, known for its massive ring system. Saturn is also known for its moon, Titan, which is one of only three locations in the Terran system to sustain permanent settlements—other than Earth and Mars. Titan has liquid oceans across its surface, but does have a thick atmosphere which makes those oceans obscured from space.

### The ice giants

The two gas giants that were discovered more recently are the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune. Uranus is known for its axis of rotation being similar to that of other planets' equators, meaning the north and south poles are located centrally on either side.

Neptune, on the other hand, is remarkable for its intense blue hue. It is also home to Neptunian dark spots, intense and very large windstorms which last for several years before dissipating. Neptune's moon, Triton, orbits in a retrograde fashion.

### Kuiper belt and beyond

Beyond Neptune is the Kuiper belt, a belt of asteroids and comets which is home to numerous dwarf planets, the largest of these being Pluto and Eris. Beyond the kuiper belt are numerous scattered dwarf planets, and eventually Chthon and the Oort cloud. Chthon is the most recently confirmed planet, originally known as Planet Nine or Planet X, and is credited with strange dwarf planet orbits in the outer regions of the Terran system.

## Sources

* *Human Origins*
* *Knowledge of Science*
* *Welcome to Earth*

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 *Welcome to Earth*