Helicanus (world)

Helicanus/Megrez (Canopus 2908)
Classic Era (1116)	A203442-B Starport A Excellent: Starship Construction, Overhaul, Refined fuel Size 2 Small (3,200 km, 0.10g - 0.17g) Atmosphere 0 Vacuum Hydrographics 3 Wet World 30% Population 4 Moderate (60 thousand) Government 4 Representative Democracy Law 2 Low Law (no energy weapons) Tech Level B Average Stellar (large starships)
See also	UWP
System Details
Primary	M0 V
Planetoid Belts	2
Gas Giants	3

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Jump map from Travellermap.com

Helicanus is an icy, nonindustrial vacuum world, warranting hazardous environment precautions.

• Its surface is ice-capped with little or no atmosphere and nearly all of its water frozen.
• It requires extensive imports of outside technology to maintain a modern, star-faring society.
• It is a member of the Solomani Confederation in the Megrez Subsector of Canopus Sector.

• It is a mainworld which is a satellite of either a gas giant or another world.

Description (Astrography & Planetology)

Stellar Data

Helicanus has a solitary primary star.

• It is a red main sequence.

Helicanus has a solitary primary star.

Primary
	Type	Category		Mass (Sol)	Temperature (K)	Luminosity
	M0 V	Main Sequence (Dwarf)		0.57	3770 - 3850	0.13982
	Unit	Diameter	Safe Distance	Habitable Zone	Jump Shadow	M-Drive Limit
	AU	0.0055	0.031	0.39 - 0.74	0.55	5.5
	Orbit #	*	*	2	1	6
	Remarks

System Data

The worlds of the system have been surveyed. They consist of:

• The mainworld.
• x8 secondary rocky worlds.
• x2 planetoid belts.
• x3 gas giants.

Mainworld Data

Helicanus is a major moon of a small gas giant.

The mainworld and its gas giant primary world orbit within the outer system.

Mainworld Size (S)

Helicanus is a Small World between 2,400km and 4,000km in diameter. The world has low gravity between 0.1G and 0.17G. The horizon will appear about 2.5km away.

Mainworld Atmosphere (A)

Helicanus has a pressure of less than 0.001 atmospheres which requires the use of a Vacc Suit. TL–8 or more advanced survival gear is required to settle this world.

Mainworld Hydrosphere (H)

Helicanus has 25-35% of its surface covered by ice, either in vast sheets or contained deep within craters or fractures on the surface. Wilderness refueling is possible. Water for the inhabitants can be got by mining and melting ice.

• The surface of the world is composed of a crust of ice many kilometers thick.
• Much of the surface is cratered and covered in thick layers of regolith and dust of meteoric origin, leaving only a part of the icy outer shell exposed.
• Below the outer icy shell there is a world-ocean of liquid water.

Mainworld Geography and Topography

No centrally held map of the world exists within AAB Library Data records.

(Blank map, vacuum world.)

Native Lifeforms

Extensive sub-ice native life. The native organisms are not dependent on light from their star, instead having a food chain based on dissolved materials in the chemical-rich waters. The world-ocean is kept liquid by energy radiating from the world's small but dense core and by the tidal flexing the world experiences as it orbits the gas giant.

History & Background (Dossier)

Helicanus has an economy based on aquaculture. Vertical shafts, tens of kilometers in height and hundreds of meters in diameter, have been drilled through the outer icy shell to reach the warm world-ocean below the ice. Commercial fishing submersibles harvest the strange organisms that live in the dark waters.

Solomani Security keeps a close eye on things to ensure the security of the Confederation and the well-being of its loyal citizens. Almost anyone could be a SolSec informant, passing on all sorts of useful information: some gain a reward or benefit for their actions, others are coerced, but many see it as an act of duty to help protect the Solomani state and its interests.

World Starport (St)

Helicanus has a Class A Starport, an excellent quality installation which includes all the expected amenities including refined fuel for starships, brokerage services for passengers and cargo, and a variety of ship provisions. There is a shipyard capable of doing annual maintenance, overhauls and other kinds of repair, and construction of both starships and non-starships. Most ports of this classification have both a Highport and a Downport.

World Population (P)

Helicanus has a population of 60,000 sophonts (tens of thousands).

• This is a Nonindustrial World, too small to support the complete chain of production of most goods from start to finish.
• The population almost entirely consists of Solomani humans.

Linguistic Topography

The most commonly heard languages are:

• Rim Anglic, a dialect of Anglic and the principal language of the Confederation.

World Technology Level (T)

Helicanus possesses a Technology Level of TL–11 or TL-B in Hexadecimal Notation.

• Common Communication technologies for this TL include: Holovision, Personal Global Communications, and advanced Translators.
• Common Power Generation technologies for this TL include: Increasingly advanced fusion plants and advanced fuel cells.
• Common Transportation technologies for this TL include:
  • Land, Water & Air: Personal G-Tubes and advanced gravcraft.
  • Space: Advanced interplanetary spacecraft (System Craft).
  • FTL: Jump Drive-2.

World Government (G)

Helicanus is governed by a Representative Democracy where government leadership is by representatives elected by eligible voters. What determines an eligible voter varies. The representatives determine policy, including selecting members of the bureaucracy. There can be referenda, votes by eligible voters on specific subjects.

World Law (L)

Helicanus has a low law level. There are few laws, covering only important areas. There may be few or no law enforcement officers, the expectation is citizens will bring law breakers to the attention of the Judicial system. Legal proceedings will be fast, with few people involved. For interactions outside of the framework of the laws, cultural norms dominate. Portable energy weapons, body pistols, explosives, and poison gas are typically regulated or prohibited.

Trade Data

• Importance: 1 (ordinary)

World Economy

• Resources: A (abundant)
• Labor: 3 (thousands)
• Infrastructure: 2 (extremely limited)
• Efficiency: +2 (good)

World Culture

• Heterogenity: 4 (harmonious)
• Acceptance: 5 (very aloof)
• Strangeness: 4 (somewhat distinct)
• Symbols: 9 (somewhat abstract)

World Timeline

Major events that have affected this world and the wider region that it lies within:

• -9235: far to coreward, the Vilani discover jump drive technology. Over the centuries pioneers and settlers gradually spread across Charted Space.
• -4045 to -2204: the Ziru Sirka controls vast territories.
• -2431: Terrans discover jump drive technology.
• -2404 to -2215: the Interstellar Wars.
• -2204 to -1776: the Rule of Man administers the former Ziru Sirka.
• -1862 to -1110: the Terran Mercantile Community is active across the region.
• -1776 to 0: the Long Night.
• -1110 to 588: the Terran Mercantile Community gradually becomes the Old Earth Union, shrinking to control the region around Terra.
• The Year 0: to coreward, the Third Imperium is founded.
• 300-420: the Imperial First Survey charts the system.
• 588: the Old Earth Union and the former territories of the Terran Mercantile Community are annexed by the Imperium.
• 604-622: the Imperial Civil War.
• 624: the Imperial Express Boat Network is established.
• 704: the Solomani Autonomous Region is formed.
• 800-820: the Psionics Suppressions.
• 871: the Solomani Confederation is founded.
• 940: the Solomani Autonomous Region is dissolved.
• 990-1002: the Solomani Rim War.
• 995-1065: the Imperial Second Survey includes data for the system.
• 1065: the Second Survey is published. Information about the system becomes widely available.

References & Contributors / Sources

This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Classic Traveller Supplement 8 Library Data (A-M), (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), various pages. (Library data entries)
• John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Classic Traveller Supplement 11 Library Data (N-Z), (Game Designers Workshop, 1982), various pages. (Library data entries)
• John Harshman, Marc Miller. Solomani (Game Designers Workshop, 1986), IFC, pages 3, 28. (sector named, background for the sector)
• Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), IFC. (Wars of the Imperium: sector named and shown)
• Peter G. Celella, James Holden. Solomani & Aslan (Digest Group Publications, 1991), pages 8-11, various others. (dot map locating the worlds of the sector, background for the sector)
• Michael Taylor. Fighting Ships of the Solomani (QuikLink Interactive, 2009), page 5. (background for the sector)
• David L. Pulver. Solomani (Mongoose Publishing, 2012), pages 50, 118, 119, various others. (background for the sector)
• Zho Berka's Maps (Classic Era UWP Data for the world)
• CORE Data Site (UWP Data for the world)
• Author & Contributor: Rupert Boleyn (data generated to match dot map)
• Author & Contributor: Garnfellow (development of the sector)