Gaia

Gaia is a superhabitable planet located in the Arp 272 interacting galaxy trio. It is in the second largest of the three galaxies, NGC 6050B. Gaia is the seventh planet from its star Uwa, and one of eleven planets in the system. This world is also the largest in its solar system. It is the home to over 30 million different species of creatures, an island in the void where life has evolved untouched for billions of years.

## Surface Conditions

### Atmosphere

* N2 86.3%
* O2 10.5%
* H2O 2.76%

## Additional Information

### Life

organic multicellular (marine, terrestrial)

## Planet Information

### Overview

Gaia is super-earth exoplanet, with a diameter of 21022.77 km, it is 1.65x larger than Earth, along with being over 6.2 times as massive as well. Gaia's impressive mass for a terrestrial planet also equates to a high gravitational force, at over 2.3 times stronger than Earth's surface gravity, or 22.09m/s². The planet is classified as superhabitable due to the large radius of the planet, along with higher mass and a denser atmosphere. Although the average temperature of Gaia is not warmer than Earth, actually being much cooler, on the surface the atmosphere moves this heat throughout the planet, rendering surface temperatures usually warmer than on Earth. Gaia is also much older, being 12.3 billion years old.

### Orbit

Gaia orbits Uwa in an eccentrical orbit, with its pericenter being 1.55 AU, and its apocenter being 1.67 AU, completing an orbit around Uwa around every 2.2 Earth-years. Gaia is also orbited by 20 moons, two of which are interesting subjects of study, being Lua and Minata. These moons help stabilize the planet, and one of which was captured when Gaia's strong gravity messed up the orbit of another planet, capturing it.

### Rotation & Seasons

Gaia has the fastest rotational period out of any object in its system, theorized to be due to its formation, when the gas and dust swirled into a fast-rotating hot ball of magma which cooled slowly. A little-known fact is that Gaia's two large moons are slowing down the planet's rotation due to tidal forces, but this is happening very slowly. Gaia rotates once on its axis every 10 hours 49 minutes and 6 seconds, and a full solar day lasts just one minute longer at 10 hours, 7 minutes and 8 seconds. The seasons on the planet are more prominent than on Earth, due to the planet's axial tilt of 29 degrees, only being slightly more than Earth, still has an effect on Gaia's seasons. The seasons also last nearly twice as long as on Earth, due to the 2-year orbital period. The fast rotation causes good temperature balances, nights don't cool down too much, and the days don't heat up much, besides in warmer climates. Another interesting quality of Gaia is that most of the water on the surface is towards the equator, due to the planet's fast rotation.

### Atmosphere

Though Gaia's host star is only half as luminous as the sun, the thick atmosphere of the planet allows it to retain good temperatures throughout its orbit. Gaia's average temperature is only around 1-degree Celsius, although this temperature is more temperate during different seasons. Gaia's atmosphere is much more massive than Earths due to the size of the planet, but the composition of gases is similar to Earths, with 86.3% being Nitrogen, 10.5% being Oxygen, 2.76% being Water Vapor, and the rest being composed of carbon dioxide, helium, sulfur dioxide, argon, neon, and carbon oxide, totaling to a surface pressure of 34.5 atm, (3495.7 kpa). The low oxygen levels render the atmosphere unbreathable to humans or any other animals from Earth, but the animals here have no problem with the oxygen levels and thrive here across the planet.

### Planetary Structure

The immense size of Gaia's magnetic field is caused by the large, metallic iron core, like Earth, Gaia's core is spinning. This generates the planet's magnetic field, which is almost 2 times larger and 5 times as powerful as Earth's. Gaia has a thin crust with a deep surface ocean, where the deepest points reach over 7 kilometers in depth. Below this is the planet's large silicon mantle, which is where a lot of the planet's magma reservoirs are located, with magma flowing up from the mantle, and out from large volcanoes. This causes seismic activity on Gaia, with the crust constantly moving and plates regularly moving every few millions of years, the continents move around like on Earth.

## History

* ~12.3 billion years ago: Gaia forms from accretion of asteroids, dust, and gas. Its closest large moon, Lua.
* ~11.5 billion years ago: The planet clears its orbital path of debris and begins cooling down.
* ~11.2 billion years ago: the bombardment period, icy comets and asteroids from leftover material strike Gaia and Lua and rising up into Gaia's newly formed atmosphere as water vapor.
* ~10.7 billion years ago: Gaia's strong gravity caused another planetoid's orbit around Uwa to become highly unstable, which resulted in one final pass where the planet was captured by Gaia's gravity, this is how Minata became a moon.
* ~10.1 billion years ago: Lua and Minata stabilize Gaia's axis, and now both orbit the planet at its equator. Gaia also captures some other asteroids, becoming new moons.
* ~9.2 billion years ago: As Gaia cools, the water vapor becomes global cloud coverage, causing planetary storms which create the first lakes, turning into a nearly global ocean.
* ~8.7 billion years ago: Volcanism levels begin to increase, due to the amount of water eroding the tectonic plates. These form the first small islands, which become bigger land masses.
* ~8.1 billion years ago: Gaia's atmosphere is manly nitrogen and carbon dioxide, due to the volcanism. During this period, the first large land masses formed on the surface of the planet.
* ~7.2 billion years ago: Gaia's surface completely freezes due to the slightly changing axial tilt of the planet, but all the ice melts once its axis goes back to a stable 29-degree tilt.
* ~6.4 billion years ago: The planet's ocean floor is full of hydrothermal vents due to the planet's active mantle.
* ~5.2 billion years ago: This period was a long period of volcanic activity, raising the CO2 levels in Gaia's atmosphere to almost 60% of its composition. Lots of this CO2 bonded with water molecules to form carbonic acid.
* ~4.8 billion years ago: Carbonic acid levels decrease, and the ocean de-acidifies due to natural processes.
* ~3.5 billion years ago: The first single celled organisms emerge around hydrothermal vents deep in Gaia's oceans.
* ~3.2 billion years ago: The oceans are now full of single celled organisms, which take in carbon dioxide from the ocean and release a biproduct of oxygen. This oxygen then rises up into the atmosphere, this is called the oxygenation event.
* ~2.9 billion years ago: due to life in the oceans, the CO2 levels drop to less than 1%, and Oxygen levels rise to almost 38% composition.
* ~2.5 billion years ago: The oxygen levels begin to decrease since some organisms move up from the deep ocean and towards the surface, using oxygen as a respiration source. The atmospheric levels stabilize out at 10% composition, where it is today.
* ~1.3 billion years ago: the first multicellular organisms evolve; they live off of sunlight and hunt other smaller single celled organisms.
* ~600 million years ago: the first complex life rises in the oceans, in the form of fish and plant life, creating the first coral reefs and deep-sea forests.
* ~490 million years ago: the first plants evolve for land life, and the atmosphere now has an ozone layer composed of O3, keeping these plants safe on land from harmful radiation.
* ~410 million years ago: the first animals crawl from the ocean and become permanent land animals. They are mostly reptiles that use eggs to have babies, because they are not fully adapted to land reproduction.
* ~225 million years ago: Gaia's atmosphere changes from an orange hue to a blue hue do the oxygen and other chemicals as biproducts of large forests.
* ~150 million years ago: Gaia is not a mostly blue and green world, similar to our own home planet.
* ~9 million years ago: First mammals evolved on Gaia, with ancient reptilian ancestors. ~1 million years ago: First signs of intelligent life evolve on Gaia.
* ~15,000 years ago: The beginning of the Gaian civilization and advancement in this alien species.
* TODAY: Gaia is a lush, blue and green diverse superhabitable world, with a race of intelligent beings taking great care of their planet, while also studying their skies.

## Moons

Gaia is the largest planet in its solar system, and due to this factor, its gravity has captured a ton of satellites during its 12-billion-year history. These moons range from small asteroids the size of cities, to entire worlds with their own atmospheres and even evidence of past life existing on these moons. One thing is for sure, the Gaians that live on the parent planet have lots to say about their moon system and have researched these moons intensely with passion and curiosity.

### Lua

Lua is the second largest moon orbiting Gaia, and the second largest moon in its system, with a diameter of 4812 km. Lua is a desolate moon, resembling Mars. despite its "Dead" appearance, Lua's importance to Gaia and the Gaian civilization goes incredibly far. Lua appears in many ancient texts and glyphs, the two moons, Lua and Minata are commonly referred to as twin gods who rule the heavens, keeping the Gaians safe. Lua is an important subject of study to the Gaians, with the surface of the moon being covered in ice and metal rich deposits, along with having massive impact craters across the surface. It is also studied due to the moon being able to retain its own atmosphere, as well as generate a magnetic field. Evidence suggests that in the past, liquid water flowed on the surface of the moon, however, due to the thin atmosphere, which was weakened by Uwa, the temperatures across the surface dropped to below freezing, causing all the water to freeze and now exists as ice near the moon's poles. More research by the Gaians is required to understand the past of this moon better.

### Minata

Once its own planet orbiting Uwa, Minata is another large terrestrial moon of Gaia. Minata is the largest moon of Gaia, with a diameter of 5260 km, and the largest moon in its solar system. Minata is nearly as large as Mars, but way less massive than the planet. This world is an icy, tan and dusty world an orbital period of approximately 4 days, and orbits at a far distance of 191,000 km from Gaia. Minata has the largest effect of Gaia's tides, causing them to rise and fall around 2 meters every day. This strange moon is able to hold on to an atmosphere, made up of mainly of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, it is extremely poisonous to any lifeforms visiting the moon without proper protection. But Minata has Gaian astrophysicists studying the moon due to its large abundance of water ice on the surface, and potentially a large underground ocean hidden beneath the moon's surface, as well as being able to generate a magnetic field, like Lua. Minata is a very interesting world that orbits very close to the Gaian's home world. Gaian bases on Minata have revealed some shocking discoveries about the past of this interesting world.

### Dwarf Moons

Gaia has a total of 19 moons, 17 of which are minor, mostly captured asteroids. All 17 dwarf moons have proper names as given: Logi, Kald, Alba, Felsen, Ebos, Sontse, Zeon, Aeolus, Tersus, Venin, Leer, Sosie, Haru, Tukha, Pestis, Sarth, Gatov, and Caldera. These moons, along with Lua and Minata, make up all 19 moons in Gaia's planetary system. The moon that orbits the closest to Gaia is Logi, completing one orbit every 2h and 55m. This moon reflects so much light that it is visible during the day on most parts of Gaia and has been dubbed as "The Daytime Star" by most Gaians. The farthest moon of Gaia is Caldera, orbiting the planet every 57 days. This moon is not visible to the unaided eye due to its small size and low reflectivity but can be seen on clear nights with no light pollution or when no light is visible from any moons. Most of these dwarf moons were captured millions of years ago, due to Gaia's very strong gravitational pull and effect on asteroids in its system. Some of these moons are rich in water ice and metals, which make scientists study them to learn more about Gaia's past, along with the origin of life on Gaia. Although small moons, each one is very important.

## Life & Biosphere

Gaia's massive biosphere is unlike any other inhabited planet in its galaxy. The planet's surface is home to 30 million different species of organisms, small and large, young and old, the biosphere of Gaia is dominated by life, playing a huge role in how the planet looks, and effects the atmosphere and solar system. Plant life by far dominates the planet, with hundreds of thousands of different plant species being found in almost every environment across the surface of Gaia. Animals depend on these plants for sustenance, which more predatory animals rely on smaller animals. The biosphere is incredibly diverse in every environment, with all life forms evolving over millions of years to suit their environments to their liking. Over time, this evolved to the Gaians, an intelligent space fairing alien race with technological capabilities only slightly more advanced than humanity, they take good care of their home world.

### Origin

Studies suggest that life on Gaia is because of a process called abiogenesis, where dead matter becomes organic matter, creating the first building blocks of more complex, intelligent life. It is still unknown how exactly dead matter becomes organic matter, but it is a heavily researched subject by Gaian biologists. The current belief is that life emerged deep within the oceans of the planet around 3.5 billion years ago, and over time they eventually learned to work together as multicellular organisms, moving closer and closer to the ocean surface and eventually producing oxygen, fertilizing Gaia's CO2 rich atmosphere with oxygen to support the life that exists on the planet today. Scientific evidence painted a great picture of life's origin on the planet, although some Gaian groups think that life came from elsewhere.

### Geographical Biomes & Climate

Like Earth, Gaia has plenty of diversity when it comes to biomes and ecosystems. But because Gaia is much more habitable than the Earth, the diversity of these ecosystems is much wider than on Earth, some ecosystems are incredibly colorful, while others are green and lush like on Earth. Gaia's changing climate and axial tilt helps promote diversity in evolution among creatures in these ecosystems, especially plant life. Near the tropics, ecosystems are far more colorful and have creatures with many different adaptable features that allow for survival in these lush environments, similar to jungles on Earth. While colder climates have less diverse ecosystems with more plants and animals that have lived in those environments for millions of years, and have adapted perfectly to those environments, which promotes less change in these environments keeping them at a constant balance, therefore not changing as much as tropical environments. In the ocean, it is also similar to on land, with tropical reefs being very diverse and having many different animals, meanwhile cooler parts of the ocean and deeper parts of the ocean have less diverse ecosystems. Deserts, mountains, tundra's, plains, and wet forests have similar climates to colder ecosystems. There are hundreds of types of forests and other respective ecosystems on Gaia, with plenty to study.

some examples of exotic ecosystems on Gaia are:

**Yamau Tankiru (Fruit Forest)**

The Yamau Tankiru are one of the rarest tropical ecosystems found on Gaia, being a lush ecosystem of trees and plants, which all bear some type of fruit, which is where it got its name of the fruit forest. Most of the trees in the fruit forest bear orange like fruits, which are very sweet and savory and a delicacy to many Gaian cultures, along with being a good source of nutrition for other species which thrive in these forests. Here, many different lifeforms can be found, especially mammals, as most of them live among these trees and eat the fruits that grow here, spreading their seeds in their feces, making these fruit forests denser and denser. These forests are also home to very tall mushroom like trees with very thin stems. These trees stay up with naturally occurring carbon-fiber in their stem structures, to fight back against Gaia's strong gravity, which would otherwise cause the trees to collapse. The fruit forests are one of the most visited places on Gaia, and are also protected from Gaian expansion, to preserve these beautiful forests.

**Jyankala (Jungle)**

Similar to on Earth, Gaia's equator and topics are covered by dense jungles which can be thousands of kilometers in land area. These jungles are where most life on Gaia lives, due to the stable temperatures throughout the Gaian year. Jungle ecosystems are very complicated, with plenty of predators and prey animals, which keep populations in check and help spread seeds and spores of plants to keep the jungles lush. These jungles receive large amounts of rainfall annually, making them very wet places to live. Most animals that live here can camouflage very well with the surrounding environments, both large animals and small animals. Jungles also have the cleanest air of any Gaian ecosystem due to the sheer number of plants which take in CO2 and SO2 from the atmosphere, converting it into nutrients and oxygen for themselves, and to help other species. Jungles are a delicate balance that makes a lot of life on Gaia possible to the present day. Gaians that live near jungles are treated with luxurious views of kilometers upon kilometers lush and green landscapes to explore, or just admire from afar.

**Trapaka Mei (Sulfurous Sea)**

The Sulfurous Sea is the harshest environment on all of Gaia, but somehow life still thrives here. Due to the exceptionally high SO2 levels in Gaias atmosphere of approximately 35.9 PPM, some areas of Gaia have higher SO2 concentrations than others. While life on Gaia largely doesn't mind the SO2 levels and has adapted to live comfortably with them, SO2 likes to bond with H2O at high pressures to create H2SO4 (Sulfuric Acid) and the sulfurous seas are areas where the water is a mix of H2O and H2SO4. Life that lives in these waters ranges from extremophiles around some vents to medium sized fish at most. Lots of bird species live near the sulfurous seas, where they can easily feast on large groups of fish which come to the surface occasionally. Other than birds and fish, the sulfurous seas are deadly to most animals, and Gaians. They cannot take samples of the water without using protective gear, but they can breathe the air around here.

### Plant Life

Plants are some of the first land organisms on Gaia, the first plants believed to have taken refuge on land around 1 billion years ago, using the energy available to them from Uwa to photosynthesis sunlight into sugars and produce oxygen, along with algae that helped these plants back in the oceans. Plant life can be found all over the planet's surface, in oceans and land and even dry and cold areas, plants will find a way to manipulate the environment to fit its needs. Plants also change depending on the season, in the summers the plants are green with lush appearances, during the fall the trees and other plants will turn colors such as blue, orange, yellow, red and purple, similar to on Earth. During the winters plants will lose all of their leaves to conserve their nutrients for the nearly 6-month long winters on Gaia. Finally, in the spring the trees and plants blossom with beautiful flowers and restore life back to the planet before summer. Foliage on Gaia doesn't grow to massive sizes unlike on Earth due to Gaia's strong gravity, with the tallest trees only being around 45 meters tall, compared to 116-meter-tall trees on Earth. Although the strong gravity allows the roots of trees in forests on Gaia to connect, essentially turning all plant life into one massive organism that is responsible for almost everything on Gaia. The connecting roots are not well understood but they act like a hive mind for plant life, they all take orders from a central nervous system somewhere beneath the planet's crust, this location is not known yet. The balance seems to be working though, as plant life on Gaia has been around for a billion years.

Some examples of plant life include:

**Miyaka (Soul Tree)**

A tree with beautiful purple stringy pod like leaves, which glow at night. These trees usually growing to 23 meters in height and reside in forests in large groups. Miyakas can live for an average of 25,000 Gaian years, so they are some of the oldest living organisms to still be present in modern history on the planet. What makes Miyakas unique from most other plant species is their ability to connect their large root systems to other trees in the surrounding area and share information, like nutrients, hydrocarbons, and even information about the temperature or seasons. They are sort of like hive minds, but in this case, giving nutrients and helping ecosystems in which they live thrive. Near the start of winter, the pods that glow explode, and seeds are scattered throughout the area and travel via the wind streams which eventually reach the forest floors or wherever they may land, and bury themselves into the ground, waiting until the beginning of early spring to begin blooming and growing. This period is called the Miyaka bloom to the Gaians. They are sacred trees to the Gaians, who have taken seeds from these trees and plant them throughout their villages, usually representing a town center. Gaians come together to worship under these trees.

**Tekan Onian (Sulfuric Suicide Bulb)**

Now, Gaians studying this plant have concluded one thing: this plant is incredibly stupid yet has an amazing survival tactic. Tekan Onians are spherical medium sized plants, only growing to about 1.5 meters in height. They survive by taking in SO2 from the atmosphere and storing it inside of them and releasing back the O2 into the atmosphere. The stored sulfur acts as a fertilizer, helping them grow and spread. Now the stupid thing about these plants is that when any living creature applies pressure to the top of the plant, they explode. Although fun to watch and a silly thing to do as a young, bored Gaian, the explosions can be deadly as sulfur that hasn't solidified can poison Gaians and animals who inhale it. The explosion helps the plant though by shooting the spores in all different directions, which then plant into the ground and grow if the temperatures are warm. These plants are usually found in jungles in tropical zones, and especially on tropical islands. These plants also make good natural sources of solid sulfur, used in many different materials by Gaians.

**Canapus (Hut Plant)**

The Canapus is a plant that grows almost everywhere where water is sufficient, and trees are not. They are mostly found in plains near rivers or oceans, thriving from a large water supply. The Canapus is a plant that resembles a giant fern, but the leaves open and close depending on the time of day. It gets its name Canapus, "Hut Plant" due to its giant leaves enclosing around it at night, making the plant resemble a bulb with its closed leaves and creating a natural shelter which some Gaian cultures even live in. The leaves of the plant are as strong as steel, but very bendable, allowing animals and Gaians to simply push the leaves out of the way to get in and out of the natural made walls. Inside the fleshy walls of the plant, fruits grow on the stems and small branches of the plant. These fruits are called "Hut Fruits" (Canapus Ma). These fleshy fruits have a red skin with a sky-blue and watery flesh, used in many different cooking methods and are about the size of watermelons. These hut plants have provided shelters to plenty of different creatures for millions of years and are very common.

**Jentario (Ash Tree)**

The Jentario is a species of medium sized trees which live almost exclusively on volcanic islands, and near volcanoes in general. These trees are incredibly interesting topics of research amongst Gaian biologists for many factors, first off, they live always near magma reservoirs and can withstand temperatures of up to 700 degrees Celsius. The bark of the tree can survive temperatures of up to 1,200 degrees Celsius, and it is still unknown what makes their wood structures so incredibly heat resistant. Gaians that live on these islands regularly build shelters out of this material, as it can be gathered easily and is very strong. The trees have orangish-brown leaves which make them represent the burning ashes of fire, hence where the Jentario got its name as the ash tree. The seeds of this tree are contained within the leaves and will detach from the branches during the fall and collect with other seeds in large groups, almost like the seeds are sentient creatures. These seeds will then travel for sometimes thousands of miles across Gaia's vast oceans to other volcanic islands using some type of thermal navigation, following the heat from within Gaia's mantle, leading them to other volcanic areas where they then plant near magma streams and begin to grow again.

### Marine Life

Life in the ocean's flourishes on Gaia, mainly due to the mineral rich water in which life evolved in. The most diverse ocean ecosystems are around the equator of the planet, where the temperatures stay mostly consistent throughout the Gaian year, allowing massive coral reefs to thrive with millions of different species in each one. The difference between the ocean creatures on Earth and Gaia, creatures on this planet are able to filter CO2 into Oxygen and Carbon, using a special organ. This prevents ocean acidification, whereas on Earth the rising CO2 levels acidify the oceans. Not all creatures on Gaia can do this, this is mostly the job of the massive coral tubes which sit in these shallow reefs, releasing the oxygen in bubbles and using the Carbon to harden their coral structure. Fish on Gaia use these coral tubes as homes for themselves and reproduce here, and also to hide from predators. Life in the oceans is everywhere, even in the deep abyss of Gaia's oceans, single-celled organisms and some complex organisms can survive the pressure and use bioluminescence to survive. Life exists in Gaia's great rivers and lakes as well, some freshwater lakes hosting their own massive ecosystems, as well as organisms thriving beneath Gaia's cold polar oceans, there is no place in the oceans that life has not spread to. The fish on Gaia look similar to fish on Earth, the only difference is that most species have 4 eyes, adapted to their environments that they live in, however 4 eyes are common for most species on Gaia.

Examples of well known marine species:

**Abysnian Wyrm (Abyss Worm)**

Abysnian Wryms are one of the most feared creatures on the planet. They are the largest aquatic carnivorous species on the Gaia and resemble creatures from one's nightmares. They appear to be long, massive serpent like creatures live in the depths of the deepest oceans on Gaia. They are almost all black, with the exception of a few small blue fins and glowing yellow eyes, along with glowing spots along its back. The Abysnian Wyrm's diet consists of small fish, and larger fish, including aquatic mammals that live near the surface of the oceans. Although these creatures are extremely rare to spot, most sightings have been of babies, or juveniles. Only a few Gaians have ever seen and photographed an Adult Abysnian Wyrm. Adults are said to be up to 1 kilometer in length, and can swim of speeds of close to 112 kph (69.8 mph) Their long, slender bodies allow these creatures to hide amongst deep sea shadows and wait for something large to swim above them, where they accelerate and grab its prey with its mouth, before dragging it deep to the abyss of the ocean, where the pressure then eventually kills the unfortunate victim. Gaians always do their best to stay far from Abysnian Wyrms, but when research calls, they often lose submersibles to these creatures, which think they are prey animals.

**Raptican Backtuure (Reefback Whale)**

This majestic reef creature is a Raptican Backtuure, they are whale like creatures with a fibrous and nutrient rich back, which allows whole ecosystems of coral reefs to grow on their backs. The coral benefits the Raptican by supplying it with nutrients, while the whale supplies the coral and fish with sunlight, creating a symbiosis relationship between species. These creatures are gentle giants, they are carnivorous, but only eat large quantities of plankton and schools of fish, posing no threat to Gaians or large reef creatures. They have also been observed to exhibit intelligent behavior, like using communication between members and even attempting to "Talk" to Gaian marine biologists who come to study them. They have also been observed to mourn the loss of other members, making loud and deep noises almost like they are crying. They are also spiritually connected to the Gaians, especially ones who live on islands. Unfortunately, these creatures are prey to Abysnian Wryms, who actively hunt them. Most of the time however, Rapticans can avoid Abysnian Wryms by staying in large groups when travelling, but when one gets separated from its group, it will often fall victim to these ferocious creatures.