Systems

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Planetary systems, usually reffered to as systems, are gravitationally bound collections of planets, planetoids or asteroids orbiting a central governing mass usually but not always a star. Systems contain the most important locations in the galaxy; from homeworlds of various species to military outposts, fledging colonies or untold secret. The vast majority of systems in the Milky Way possess one or multiple stars, a black hole or other massive object at its center.

## Travel and Exploration

For the majority of Type I and II civilisations, inter-system travel is conducted using Alcubierre Drives or equivalent FTL technology such as a Jump Drive, with some civilisations opting to utilise "Hyper-Relays", Gateways or Wormholes to either reduce travel times to nearby star systems or near-instantaneously connect two separate points in the Milky Way. While FTL travel such as that with an Alcubierre Drive is considered the safest method of transportation, travel time can still be lengthy at larger distances, resulting in the utilisation of artificially constructed Gateways (stabilised artificial Wormholes) or naturally occuring Wormholes. Jump Drives may also be employed for pan-galactic travel by more advanced civilisations, reducing travel time at considerable risk to the vessel. For intra-system travel, most ships employ Alcubierre Drive at a drastically reduced velocity to avoid causing gravitational wave disasters, and typically utilise chemical, fusion, ion or impulse thrusters in planetary systems.

## Notable Systems

### The Federated Planets of Earth

* Sol: The capital system of the Federated Planets of Earth containing the homeworld of humanity.
* Alpha Centauri: The "cultural-capital" of the FPE and the site of humanity's first interstellar colony.
* Epsilon Eridani: One of humanitys "core-systems" and the site of Afwijking Outpost, a mysterious alien artifact.
* Trappist-1: A populous system boasting several habitable planets and one of humanitys beacons of potential colonisation during the early interstellar age.

### Other Sovereign Empires

* Cevant: The capital system of the Republic of Cevant.
* Anuradha: The capital system of the Angorian Republic.

## Common Terms

#### Astronomical Unit (AU)

Roughly the distance from Earth to its primary star, Sol. Used as a measurement for other in-system distance measurements. The actual value, in kilometers, of an AU is 1.496e+8km

#### Asteroid Belt

A ring or cloud of rocky small planetoids. Often mined for raw resources or used as a construction platform for interplanetary civilisations.

#### Binary System

System characterised by a "binary" set of two orbiting stars around which the other objects orbit. Can also be found as a **trinary** system (three stars), or **quaternary** (four stars).

#### Homeworld

The premier evolution site of a sapient species. Can also refer to the birthplanet of an individual.

#### Space Station

An artifical base built as a platform for military, research, mining or other purposes in space. Often in orbit around planets or built into asteroids.