A tour of the Viridian System

The star (or sun) Viridium is located in the outer spiral arm of the galaxy (currently space travel is limited to the home galaxy), in the far reaches of the Alpha Quadrant.

Galactic navigation

There are four quadrants of the galaxy, of which the Delta Quadrant is least explored, and then mostly only in the innermost sector, near the heart of the galaxy.  Quadrants are shaped like a segment of an orange, their narrowest edges meeting at the axis of the galaxy.  The core of the galaxy is a fifth navigation area, but is generally too dense to allow useful space travel. Each Quadrant is divided for navigation purposes into sectors; innermost (primary sector), 6 secondary sectors (equator, medial and pole, each labelled North or South, and usually referred to by letter e.g. NE is north equator).  Outside each secondary sector there are nine tertiary sectors with no outer limit, designated by their secondary sector followed by a designation according to position, so, NP1 is one of 12 tertiary sectors that meet on the north axis of the galaxy: Alpha NP1-3, Beta NP 1-3, Gamma NP1-3 and Delta NP 1-3 all surround the northern axis – it is virtually empty space.

Viridium is located in Alpha NM 9, putting it just above the plain of the spiral arm, close enough for easy travel, but far enough to put anyone off a casual journey there.  Were it not for the asteroid belt rich in orichalcum it would probably be ignored.

Viridium is a Class G planet with a spectrum heading into green, largely considered to be related to the presence of orichalcum. Analysis of its spectrum is controversial on this point.  Its system is similar to the Sol system in that it has inner rocky planets and outer gaseous ones.  The third ring of planets is in the habitable zone, as is the asteroid belt.

V.A is a small rocky planet with a period equal to its year, so one side always faces Viridium.  It is uninhabitable.

V.B is an even smaller rocky planet, thought to have escaped capture by the third ring, since it has an unstable orbit which is slowly degrading (0.1 AU in 100,000 years).

V.C1 is known locally as Pleasant Valley (PV).  It has an Earth-type size, mass and atmosphere and gravity of 1.1G.  It has a stable orbit of between 1.0 and 0.8 AU from Viridium, and one year is the equivalent of 742 standard days.  It rotates once every 24 hours, and has one moon, of similar composition to V2, which completes one orbit of V.C1 every 32 days.  The planet is mostly habitable, although in the six months near perigee temperate areas adjacent to the equatorial belt become desert.  Equatorial areas are always desert and habitable only in the few months of the apogee.  There is liquid water below the surface, enabling some hydroponics for crop growing, and surface agriculture in northern latitudes according to the availability of sunlight.

  • The main city on V.C1 is actually named Walton City, but mostly everyone just calls it Pleasant Valley or The City.  It’s pretty much where everything on the planet happens.  The rest of the habitation is small communities and isolated ranches except for…
  • there is a large community in the southern hemisphere of Isolationists.  They prefer to keep to themselves.  Rumoured to be a break-away group from one of the many sects that survived the Toolah Wars.
  • There are no large animals on V.C1, but plenty of lizards, birds and other dry habitat creatures.

V.C2 is known locally as Sunset Strip It orbits in the same plane as V.C1, on the opposite side of the sun, marginally further out: 1.1 to 1 AU from Viridium.  It is a smaller planet with a fast rotation, giving it two sunrises in 25 hours.  Because of the rotation, the equatorial belt is uninhabitable for most species at the surface due to high winds and unstable sea states.  It is an ocean planet with large landmasses in northern temperate zones and many islands in the southern temperate zones.  Both are vegetated and have equable temperatures suggestive of mediterranean climates ranging to nordic.  It has two small moons, the larger orbits once every 26 days and appears shades of red, the other orbits once every 13 days and shows shades of purple.  Both orbits in the same direction but not in the same plane.  No-one has bothered to study their complex relationships, or if they have, they haven’t published any findings or predictions of conjunctions, eclipses, etc.

  • The main business on Sunset Strip is leisure.  The Elders of the planet ensure that everyone abides by the rule of relaxing and enjoying oneself peaceably and without annoying one’s neighbours.  The main resort is called Sunset Strip (Viridians have little imagination, it seems), but it has more and less sophisticated parts, to suit all tastes.
  • There is a secure resort some 200 klicks from Sunset Strip where undesirables entering the Viridian System are required to rest until they attain their originally stated leaving date.  Undesirables usually have Imperium chips or Federation passes.
  • There are no indigenous sentient lifeforms on V.C2, according to the Settlement & Survey Division of the Prime Directive Council.  There are no land animals at all, and a small range of marine life.

V.D is an asteroid belt, possibly still in a phase of planetary accretion.  Asteroids range from large rocks the size of V.C2’s purple moon, down through the sizes only large enough for an astronaut to stand on, then up to mud and ice balls half the size of the largest rocks.  There are a few iron asteroids, but most of those in this system orbit V.E.  The rocky asteroids have a wide range of mineral wealth, the most important of which is orichalcum.  Over 50% of the galaxy’s orichalcum comes from the Viridian System.  Mined asteroids have a designated number, unmined but mapped asteroids ditto.  Not all asteroids are mapped.

V.E is a gas giant with a ring system at approx 4 AU from the sun, with 24 moons, mostly small, and mostly iron.

V.F is another gas planet, smaller than V5, at 17 AU from Viridium.

[work in progress]

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