Alpha Centauri

The Alpha Centauri system is of prime interest to humanity for several reasons. Not only is it the closest star system to Earth, but also the location of the only two nearby stars suitable for hosting life.

In Solar Storms, both Alpha Centauri A and B are each host to four terrestrial planets, and a number of asteroid and cometary bodies. Both systems have somewhat more eccentric orbits than the inner planets of the Solar System, though not drastically so.

• Alpha Centauri A's worlds:
  • Sihtu - a scorched world, resembling Mercury and Utarid in many ways, including orbitting at .4 AU.
  • Delebat - Orbits at about .75 AU from its star. Possesses a scant atmosphere, but believed to be potentially terraformable if drug out to a high enough orbit.
  • Salbatanu - Though it once held life, stellar expansion has long since scorched its surface. Orbits at about 1.1 AU from the sun.
  • Ersetu - a potentially Earthlike world orbitting at 1.6 AU from its parent star. Although somewhat drier and lighter than Earth, it does have a large moon, named Sin, and active plate tectonics, giving rise to multicellular life on this world as well. Terraforming is scheduled to begin in 2208. Extremely heavy asteroid bombardment has prevented this world from developing life too far.

• Alpha Centauri B's worlds:
  • Utarid - resembling Mercury, it orbits its star at about .35 AU.
  • Bumi - a hot, but livable world orbitting at about .65 AU. It also has a larger than normal moon, called Bulan though it is not formed in the same manner that Luna or Sin were, having a much different composition from Bumi and a rather eccentric orbit. It is a smaller world, and extremely dry.
  • Zuhrah - A cold planet, it is the largest in the Alpha Centauri system, though not quite the size of Earth. It has water, and some measure of life, trapped in an eternally primitive state. It orbits at about .95 AU.
  • Marikh is the coldest of the major planets in the system, and one of the smallest.