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Extrasolar planets in fiction

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The planetary systems of stars other than the Sun and its Solar System are a staple element in much science fiction.

Overview

The notion that there might be inhabited extrasolar planets may be traced at least as far back as Giordano Bruno, who, in his De l'infinito universo e mondi ("Concerning the Infinite Universe and Worlds", 1584), declared that "Innumerable suns exist; innumerable Earths revolve about these suns ... Living beings inhabit these worlds". Allusions to inhabitants of other stars' planetary systems remained rare in literature for many centuries afterward. One of these is Voltaire's Micromégas (1752), which features a traveller from Sirius.

As science fiction became established in the early twentieth century, destinations such as the Moon, Mars, Venus or other bodies within the Solar System became stereotyped. Authors began to invoke a variety of mechanisms for superluminal travel and placed their stories on planets in systems around other stars, a move giving them freedom to construct more exotic fictional worlds and themes. This tendency became predominant once exploration of the Solar System showed that it was increasingly unlikely that any highly-developed form of extraterrestrial life existed in the Solar System.

Although some of the stars named in works of science fiction are purely imaginary, many authors and artists have preferred to use the names of real stars which are well known to astronomers, either through being notably bright in the sky as seen from Earth or being relatively near to Earth.

Some of these stars appear to be unsuitable for planets with advanced life, assuming that Earth is typical. The solar system was already a billion years old before life appeared on Earth. Complex life appeared three billion years later, in the 'Cambrian explosion'. Inherently bright stars like Sirius and Vega have total life-times of only about 1 billion years, so they seem unsuitable for development of complex life. Red giant stars are a relatively short phase near the end of a star's lifetime and are some 100 times brighter than the original star. Except for a few unusually close stars, those stars which are not intrinsically so bright as to raise this short lifetime constraint, appear so inconspicuous in the Earth's sky that they lack the proper names that would make them attractive to science fiction authors.

General uses of star names

Stars may be referred to in fictional works for their metaphorical or mythical associations, but not as locations in space or centers of planetary systems:

  • Oedipus the King, play by Sophocles. The Corinthian Shepherd references 'the rising of Arcturus' as a time marker while trying to jog the memory of the Theban Shepherd about their acquaintance prior to the Theban's entrusting the child Oedipus to the Corinthian rather than killing him as he had been instructed.
  • Polaris, short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Describes a lost polar civilization on which the star Polaris always shines.
  • Doorways in the Sand, novel by Roger Zelazny. Phecda along with the other stars of Ursa Major is mentioned during the protagonists' jaunts atop the steeples of Old Europe.
  • Children of Dune, novel by Frank Herbert. Fomalhaut is called Foum al-Hout, the polar star of the south.
  • The Truelove (1992) the fifteenth in the series of Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian. Jack Aubrey establishes his ship's longitude in the Pacific ocean by taking a lunar distance on Fomalhaut
  • Justine (1957), novel by Lawrence Durrell. "Living on this bare promontory, snatched every night from darkness by Arcturus, far from the lime-laden dust of those summer afternoons, I see at last that none of us is properly judged for what happened in the past."

List of planetary systems in fiction

Planetary systems (mostly hypothetical or imaginary) of real stars appearing in fiction are:

36 Ophiuchi

40 Eridani

  • Star Trek film and television franchise. 40 Eridani A is the location of the planet Vulcan, home of the Vulcan species. Although this was never stated on any TV show or film, both the authorized Star Trek book Star Trek: Star Charts and Gene Roddenberry[1] give this location. In addition, Commander Tucker's statement in Star Trek: Enterprise that Vulcan is 16 light years from Earth supports this as 40 Eridani A is 16.39ly from Sol.[2]
  • In the RPG GDW's 2300 AD, Montana (Spanish: Montaña) is the second planet of Omicron2 Eridani, a garden habitable world, and it houses the Mexico-Argentina joint colony of Montana. While Argentina and Mexico originally placed two separate colonies within cooperating distance of each other, the distinctions have long since vanished. The Argentines first settled the continent of Chimborazo, while the Mexicans settled West Island, the largest of the 3 main islands of the planet. Omicron2 Eridani is part of the Latin systems.
  • Silicon Dreams trilogy (interactive fiction games). The first installment takes place within the system, as the colony ship Snowball 9 is on a collision course against one of the suns, possibly 40 Eridani A. The other two installments take place on the fictional planet Eden, also located in this star system.

47 Ursae Majoris

  • Coyote series of novels by Allen Steele. Much of the action of the series takes place on Coyote, a fictional habitable moon of 47 Ursae Majoris b, which is given the name Bear. Altogether, Bear has six fictional satellites (Dog, Hawk, Eagle, Coyote, Snake and Goat)- although only Coyote is habitable. 47 Ursae Majoris c is known as Wolf,and there are two fictional terrestrial planets, Fox and Raven, which orbit inward from Bear and Wolf.

61 Cygni

  • The Foundation Series, novels by Isaac Asimov. 61 Cygni has one of the planets where the human race might have originated, mentioned by the Imperial politician Lord Dorwin.
  • Time and Again (1951), novel by Clifford D. Simak. 61 Cygni is a mysterious system whose planets are impossible to approach.
  • Mission of Gravity, novel, and other stories (1953-) by Hal Clement. 61 Cygni A is the sun around which the planet Mesklin revolves.
  • Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space (1967), children's book. A modulated radio signal coming from 61 Cygni turns out to be a pictogram from aliens.
  • Revelation Space stories (2000-) by Alastair Reynolds. 61 Cygni (or 'Swan') is the sun of the planet Sky's Edge.
  • Blake's 7, television program. The region around 61 Cygni is the only area near Earth that has not been surveyed, since it is home to an alien race which is hostile to mankind, going so far as to release a virus on a Federation base via a piece of space debris.
  • Earth & Beyond, online role-playing game. 61 Cygni is a system in the outskirts of the universe.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. 61 Cygni has a terraformed planet (named Scott) that is notorious for its harsh, icy environment. Surprisingly, it has a successful tourism industry to go along with its renowned fishing industry. Its pool of tourists is derived from the populations of nearby mining systems, who would never otherwise experience a true outdoor environment where it not for the planet Scott being nearby. 61 Cygni is also a member of the Federation.
  • In the 1980s interactive novel Portal, the story begins with the return of a failed 100-year mission to 61 Cygni.
  • In the Traveller universe, 61 Cygni is the location of Nusku, a major colony world that was strategically important during the Interstellar Wars in the 22nd century.
  • While never stated on film, 61 Cygni is stated by secondary Star Trek materials as the location of Tellar, home of the Tellarite species. The Star Fleet Technical Manual depicts the flag and seal of the "United Planets of 61 Cygni," presumably the Tellarite government.
  • In C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union future history, 61 Cygni is the site of Bryant's Star Station, one of the stations on the "Great Circle" chain of space stations that terminates at Pell Station in the Tau Ceti system.

61 Ursae Majoris

  • In the RPG GDW's 2300 AD, Joi is a garden habitable world orbiting 61 Ursae Majoris, and it houses four colonies (Japanese, British, German and Azanian), and the free nation of Elysia (former French colony).
  • In the video game Mass Effect, 61 Ursae Majoris is the birth system for the character of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams.

70 Ophiuchi

82 Eridani

  • New America, an anthology by Poul Anderson. The 82 Eridani system includes the planet Rustum, which is settled by North American dissidents exiled by the World Government in the mid-21st cent.
  • Enigma, in Michael Kube-McDowell's "Trigon Disunity" trilogy. The system is home to a small, primitive human colony called Muschynka.
  • In Stephen Baxter's Ark (2009), 82 Eridani is depicted as harbouring an earthlike terrestrial planet, designated "Earth II." However, it has a daunting axial tilt and eccentric orbit, which discourage some of its potential colonists. As noted above however, while 82 Eridani may harbour a planetary system and earthlike worlds within it, no such exosolar planets have been detected as yet.

94 Aquarii

  • In the reference book Star Trek: Star Charts, 94 Aquarii is mapped as a trinary star with two class G components and a class K component also, and is identified as Fellebia, the location of the Fellebian civilization that was mentioned in Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Unexpected".

107 Piscium

  • Absolution Gap, novel by Alastair Reynolds. The 107 Piscium system has a gas giant named Haldora and a habitable moon named Hela, which is colonized by humans in the 27th and 28th centuries.

Acamar (Theta Eridani)

Achernar (Alpha Eridani)

  • Mindbridge (St. Martin's Press, 1978), novel by Joe Haldeman. First contact was made with an invasive alien race at Achernar, the most distant system reachable from Earth, using the instantaneous space transport mechanism called the "Levant-Meyer Translation."
  • Stories by Jack Vance. Achernar appears in fourteen of Vance's stories, most of the time as a reference to the star.
  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Achernar is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Ahoggyá, or Knobbed Ones.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Achernar (spelled Achenar) is the capital system of the Empire and is thus the seat of the Emperor.
  • Star Trek Original Series Season II episode Wolf in the Fold, where Jack the Ripper-style murders of women occurred in 2156.
  • Leonard Nimoy's Primortals mentions Achernar III as being the planet where the renegade Zeerus originated.
  • In the post ST: Nemesis novels, Achernar is the capital system of the Imperial Romulan State.

Aldebaran (Alpha Tauri)

Main article: Aldebaran in fiction

Algenubi (Epsilon Leonis)

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Algenubi is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Hlutrgú, or Swamp Frogs.

Algol (Beta Persei)

Alhena (Gamma Geminorum)

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Alhena is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Nyaggá, or Dwellers Below.

Alioth (Epsilon Ursae Majoris)

  • In Star Trek: Bridge Commander, located in "the Maelstrom" and the site of the games action.
  • In Frontier: Elite II, Alioth is a lawless anarchy being contested by the two major powers. By Frontier: First Encounters, the populace has risen against both invaders and formed the Alliance, which has Alioth as its center of government.

Alkalurops (Mu Boötis)

Alnilam (Epsilon Orionis)

Alpha Centauri (Toliman)

Main article: Alpha Centauri in fiction

Alpha Ceti (Menkab)

Alpha Draconis (Thuban)

  • Futurama, episode: That Darn Katz! The domestic house-cat is revealed to be from the 9th planet orbiting the star Thuban. Their planet having stopped rotating in the year 3,500 B.C. they travel to Earth to harness it's rotational energy. However in the process, the "Space Cats" encounter the people of Ancient Egypt who worship them as gods, and as a result become complacent and domesticated; forgetting their original mission until the events of the aforementioned episode.

Alpha Hydri

Altair (Alpha Aquilae)

Main article: Altair in fiction

Antares (Alpha Scorpii)

Arcturus (Alpha Boötis)

  • A Voyage to Arcturus (1920), novel by David Lindsay. Arcturus is an inhabited binary system.
  • The Foundation Series, novels by Isaac Asimov. Arcturus is the capital of the Sirius Sector in the Galactic Empire.
  • Alien From Arcturus (1956), expanded as Arcturus Landing (1978), is a science fiction novel written by Gordon R. Dickson describing an attempt to build a form of faster-than-light (FTL) propulsion.
  • In the 1964 alternate history timeline depicted in Fredric Brown's "What Mad Universe", human beings are engaged in a total war with the Arcturians, whose form is never precisely described and who seek to conquer Earth and the Solar System and exterminate all beings other than themselves. Humans use for them the pejorative term "Arcs", modeled on "Japs" for Japanese.
  • In the Doctor Who serial "The Curse of Peladon" (1972), Mars and Arcturus are depicted as old enemies.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) series by Douglas Adams. The "Arcturan Megadonkey", "Arcturan Megafreighter" and other things with similar names presumably originate on a planet orbiting Arcturus. See Places in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Arcturus for more information.
  • Marvel comics. The Arcturan system is binary and has at least four planets. It is inhabited by the Fortisquian alien species.
  • Aliens (1986), film. Arcturus is a planet the space marines visited for a furlough.
  • Spaced Invaders (1990), comic film. The Martians are fighting a war with the "Arcturians", from the Arcturus system.
  • GDW's 2300 AD, role-playing game. Arcturus is the location of Station Arcture, a human research station invaded by the alien race of Kafers. In the module 'Mission Arcturus', players are bound to retake the station from the Aliens.
  • Thousand Cultures series of novels by John Barnes. Wilson, home planet of protagonist Giraut Leones, orbits Arcturus. In the series, Wilson is home to a single "culture," Nou Occitan, based on Occitan literature.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. A Federation member, this system was colonized in 2304. The system's habitable planet, Discovery, had its flora and fauna replaced with specimens imported from Earth around the same time period. Aside from the local belief that the red giant star will remain stable until the end of time, Arcturus is more infamous as being the home system of the deadly (and exceedingly popular) narcotic known as "Arcturan Megaweed".
  • Escape Velocity Nova, computer game by Ambrosia Software. The Arcturus System is a remote but well-travelled Federation system whose main income is from mining on the planet Fermia. It also features prominently in one of the minor mission strings.
  • "Mass Effect", Xbox 360 game. Included in its backstory are details on Arcturus Station in the system of the same name; it acts as the hub of several mass relays and is one relay-jump from Earth and Sol.
  • Star Control II, Arcturus contains the homeworld of a now-extinct race called the Burvixese. Alpha Bootis however is represented as a separate system in another part of the galaxy.
  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Arcturus is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Páchi Léi, or Forest Dwellers.

Barnard's Star

  • The Legion of Space (1934), novel by Jack Williamson. Barnard's Star is home to the ancient and dreadful race of the Medusae.
  • The Black Corridor (1969), novel by Michael Moorcock. Barnard's Star is the destination for a group of people fleeing from social breakdown on Earth.
  • Blindpassasjer (1978), Norwegian 3 episodes Mini TV Series by Jon Bing and Tor Åge Bringsværd. Barnard's Star is orbited by the planet of Rossum which is inhabited by strange robots acting as 1700s-1800s european farmers.
  • Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD (1978), a Terran Trade Authority book by Stewart Cowley. A fictional planet near Barnard's Star is the location of a mysterious apparition that takes the form of an unidentified spacecraft.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979), novel by Douglas Adams. Barnard's Star is a way station for interstellar travelers.
  • In the novelization for Galactica Discovers Earth by Michael Resnick, the child prodigy named Dr. Zee conjectures that the Cylons are located at Barnard's Star, awaiting the Galacticans' arrival at the Earth, before making their final strike.[6]
  • The star was a favorite of Robert L. Forward who featured it in several books. In The Flight of the Dragonfly (1984), rewritten as Rocheworld (1990), the Barnard's Star system contains one gas giant planet called "Gargantua" and a binary rocky planet system called "Rocheworld". Rocheworld included a dry rocky world named "Roche" and an ocean covered world named "Eau." The first manned interstellar mission is sent to Barnard's Star using a ship with a huge solar sail propelled by a laser. See Beamed propulsion. In Timemaster (Tor Books:1992), a billionaire makes a six year journey to the star system to open a wormhole in 2049. In Marooned on Eden, co-written in 1993 with his wife Margaret, the starship Prometheus takes a crew on a 40 year mission to Zuni, an inhabitable moon around Rocheworld's neighbor, Gargantua.
  • Will Eisner's 1983 graphic novel, Life On Another Planet [7] depicts the reaction of the people of Earth after a signal is detected from intelligent beings on a planet orbiting Barnard's Star.
  • Hyperion (1989–1997), novels by Dan Simmons. Barnard's Star had a farm-like habitable planet called Barnard's World which was the homeworld of Rachel and Sol Weintraub, the latter being one of the seven Hyperion pilgrims depicted in the first two books.
  • The Garden of Rama (1991), novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. There is a way station at Barnard's Star for the arrival and departure of massive cylindrical world ships.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Barnard's Star is an important Federation industrial system with heavy mining and refining industry close to Earth and the other Core Systems. It proved to be the ideal beginners trading place—no pirates and high profits, exporting robots or computers to Sol and importing Luxury Goods from there could make you a millionaire in no time at all.
  • In GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars, Barnard's Star is the first interstellar destination for Terran-made jump ships, who found a colony of humans from the Vilani Imperium on arrival.
  • DarkSpace presents the star with its own stellar system.
  • In the video game Terminal Velocity, the first world takes place on Ymir, a planet orbiting Barnard's Star.
  • An Alien probe from Barnard's Star wreaks havoc in The Alien Encounters (1979) - a very low budget Saturday Afternoon type B-TV Movie.
  • In C. J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union future history, Barnard's Star is the site of Alpha Station, the first destination out from Sol on the "Great Circle" chain of space stations that terminates at Pell Station in the Tau Ceti system.

Beta Aquilae (Alshain)

  • SpaceWreck: Ghost Ships and Derelicts of Space (1979), a Terran Trade Authority book by Stewart Cowley. Beta Aquilae goes by its other name, Alshain, in the story "The Warworld of Alshain". The story is set on the fictional world named Alshain IV, a dying world, home to a once technological race, now reduced to cannibalistic savages living in the wreckage of their once great civilization.
  • FreeSpace 2, computer game. The Beta Aquilae system is the location of the Beta Aquilae Convention (BETAC) that established the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Eye of the Beholder" has set artwork in the form of computer screen graphics that establish planet Beta Aquilae II as Federation territory in the 24th century, home to a human population and a Starfleet training installation.

Beta Aurigae (Menkalinan)

Beta Canum Venaticorum (Chara)

  • In the RPG GDW's 2300 AD, Beta Canum is a garden habitable world orbiting Beta Canum Venaticorum, and it houses three colonies (British, German and French). Also houses the alien enclave of the Pentapods.

Beta Corvi (Kraz)

  • Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, computer game. The fourth planet in the system is a gas giant, home to a sentient species of incandescent gas bags called the Slylandro. They call their planet Source, and they live within a narrow band of the planet's atmosphere that they find habitable. Star Control II however used names of real constellations and stars for fictional stars, Beta Corvi in Star Control II is a green dwarf in the game instead of a yellow bright giant.
  • Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein mentions, in passing, Beta Corvi III as a planet where the inhabitants are humanoid[8].

Beta Hydri

  • Stellvia of the Universe, anime series. The star Hydrus Beta is loosely based on Beta Hydri.
  • A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. A planet of Beta Hydri is colonized by humanity in the far future and is mentioned briefly in the last third of the novel, Fiat Voluntas Tua, chapter 26.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Beta Hydri is controlled by the Federation. It has two Earth-like planets (one of which is a terraformed world) and several billion people in residence. It is close to Imperial space and is thus a popular port to find the riskier Federal missions that involve incursions into the Empire. In First Encounters, Beta Hydri is involved in two hand-coded missions that occur early in the game.
  • Daughters of Earth by Judith Merrill (Doubleday, 1969) has a crew of 500 on the starship Newhope colonizing the second planet, Uller, in 2091 after a 43-year voyage.
  • Uller Uprising, novel by H. Beam Piper (Twayne, 1952). Uller, a colonized planet with silicon-based life forms, is in the Beta Hydri system.
  • Time for the Stars by Robert A. Heinlein (Scribner's, 1956). Beta Hydri is one of the stars explored during the journey with the torchship Lewis and Clark.
  • "Silvereyes" is a human colony world orbiting Beta Hydri in The Color of Sunfire by Larry Niven. This is a short story set in his Known Space series.
  • Seed was a MMORPG about colonisation of the Beta Hydri system.
  • Old Twentieth by Joe Haldeman (2005). Beta Hydri is the destination of the generation ship in which the novel is set.

Beta Tauri (El Nath)

  • Star Trek film and television franchise. In The Worlds of the Federation reference book, Beta Tauri is the parent star of Taurus II, the planet near the Murasaki 312 effect that is home to the Taurean anthropoids. A fictional starship was named for this star's traditional name (USS El Nath) by the Federation, according to the Star Fleet Technical Manual and the novel Time for Yesterday.

Beta Virginis

Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis)

Main article: Betelgeuse in fiction

Canopus (Alpha Carinae)

  • Dune and other novels in the Dune universe by Frank Herbert. The planet Dune, also called Arrakis, is the third planet from Canopus.
  • Star Kings and Return to the Stars, novels by Edmond Hamilton. Canopus is a capital of the Middle Galactical Empire.
  • Canopus in Argos novels by Doris Lessing. A civilization of benevolent beings is based in Canopus and plays a part in human history. The main description of the Canopans is found in the novel Shikasta.
  • "The Eye of the Beholder", episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series television series. Mentioned after digging Dr. McCoy out from under a dinosaur-like creature's tail on Lactra VII, Canopus III is a desert planet that was copied in part to test the landing party, before they were captured and placed into a zoo.
  • "Where No Man Has Gone Before", episode of Star Trek (TOS) television series. A sonnet called "Nightingale Woman" is written in 1996 by Tarbolde of Canopus. The Enterprise later visited Alpha Carinae in "The Ultimate Computer". A series of fictional starships was named for this star's traditional name (USS Canopus) by the Federation, according to the Star Fleet Technical Manual and later novels. Alpha Carinae II - Class-M planet on which Dr. Daystrom's M-5 computer was tested in 2268.[23] Alpha Carinae V - The home planet of the Drella, an entity that absorbs energy from the feelings of love it senses around it "(Wolf in the Fold)"
  • "The Kidnappers" (1967), episode of The Time Tunnel television series. The time travelers are transported to a planet orbiting Canopus to rescue Dr. Ann MacGregor, whose abductor left behind a metallic computer card that would provide the coordinates.
  • BattleTech wargame and related products. The Magistracy of Canopus is an interstellar government.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Canopus has a few colonies dedicated to mining in both Frontier games. Interestingly, two minor planets (both moons of a gas giant and a brown dwarf, respectively) both share the same name of Camp Lawrence.

Capella (Alpha Aurigae)

Chi Draconis (Batentaban Borealis)

Delta Pavonis

  • Dune (1965), novel by Frank Herbert. The planet Caladan is the third world of the Delta Pavonis system.
  • Revelation Space (2000), novel by Alastair Reynolds. The planet Resurgam and the neutron star Hades are part of the Delta Pavonis system.
  • The novelette "Sundowner Sheila" by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre (published in Interzone 202, February 2006) takes place on Terra Nova, a planet orbiting Delta Pavonis in synchronous rotation with almost no libration, so that one hemisphere of the planet is in perpetual darkness, and the other hemisphere (known as Nevernight) is in perpetual daylight. "Sundowner Sheila" is narrated by a synthetic human who is assigned to a longitude on Terra Nova where Delta Pavonis is permanently at zenith, so that the sun is always directly overhead and the time of day is always noon.
  • Transformers (1983) animated television series, “The Big Broadcast of 2006” episode. Delta Pavonis IV is the home of a race of humanoid cats. A malfunctioning hypnotic Quintesson signal drives the cats to attack a neighbouring planet of humanoid dogs.
  • In Frederick Pohl's The Voices of Heaven, the protagonist, Barry Di Hoa is frozen and sent aboard a colony ship to the planet Pava in the Delta Pavonis star system.
  • Desmond Ravenstone's Atraxa trilogy is based on the second planet orbiting Delta Pavonis, called "Terranova" by the Atraxa and "New Earth" by the Kerem.
  • Paul McAuley's The Quiet War mentions a rocky terrestrial planet called Tierra within the Delta Pavonis system.
  • Delta Pavonis (1990), novel by John Maddox Roberts and Eric Kotani.
  • On My Way to Paradise (1989), a novel by Dave Wolverton. The planet Baker is the world on which the story reaches its climax.

Delta Sagittarii (Kaus Media)

  • Into the Sea of Stars (Ballantine Books, 1969) by William R. Fortschen. Colonial Unit 122, populated entirely by women and sustained with a supply of sperm purged of the Y chromosome, begins a voyage to this system in 2053 and is still enroute a thousand years later.

Deneb (Alpha Cygni)

Main article: Deneb in fiction

Dorsum (Theta Capricorni)

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Dorsum is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Mihálli, or Shape-Shifters.

Ensis (Eta Orionis)

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Ensis is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Hláka, or Furred Flyers.

Epsilon Eridani

Main article: Epsilon Eridani in fiction

Epsilon Indi

  • Worldwar novels by Harry Turtledove. Epsilon Indi is one of the subject systems ("Halless") of The Race. Halless also refers to the native planet, Halless, of the Hallesi, one of the two subject species (excluding Humans).
  • Known Space novels and stories by Larry Niven. Home, the most Earthlike planet among the human colony worlds, orbited Epsilon Indi.
  • Star Trek film and television franchise:
  • In the Thousand Cultures series of novels by John Barnes, Epsilon Indi is orbited by the planet Roosevelt, home to to 92 cultures, including French-speaking Trois-Orléans.[10]
  • Space: Above and Beyond, television series. The Epsilon Indi system is the site of the Tellus colony.
  • "Halo (series)", video games. In the Halo expanded universe the planet Harvest, the first world attacked by the Covenant, is in the Epsilon Indi system.[11]
  • Full Thrust, miniatures war game by Ground Zero Games. Epsilon Indi is one of the three systems of New Israel.

Epsilon Pegasi (Enif)

  • FreeSpace 2, computer game. Epsilon Pegasi is the site of a major outpost and the location of the "Enif Station".

Eta Cassiopeiae (Achird)

  • "Terra Nova", episode of Star Trek: Enterprise television series. The planet Terra Nova, also known as Eta Cassiopeia III (sic), is located in the Eta Cassiopeiae system.
  • In the Thousand Cultures series of novels by John Barnes, the planet Söderblom, home to the hedonistic culture of Hedonia, orbits Eta Cassiopeiae.[12]
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. The system includes three trojan planets on one orbit. The Federation has its main naval base and fleet academies in the Eta Cassiopeiae system.

Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini)

  • The House on Curwen Street (1944), by August Derleth and other stories of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Fomalhaut is the home of the god Cthugha.
  • The Forever War, novel by Joe Haldeman. Fomalhaut is the name of a planet near a collapsar.
  • Ursula K. Le Guin's novel Rocannon's World and story Semley's Necklace are set on Rokanan, the second planet of Fomalhaut. The planet is home to two species and four subspecies of sentient creatures of various technology levels. Rokanan was Rocannon's name among the native Gdemiar.
  • Childe Cycle novels by Gordon R. Dickson. Fomalhaut 3 is the homeworld of the Dorsai.
  • Return from the Stars, novel by Stanislaw Lem. The protagonist astronaut Hal Bregg returns to Earth from an expedition to the Fomalhaut system.
  • The Unteleported Man (later republished as Lies, Inc.), novel by Philip K. Dick. Whale's Mouth is a colony located in the Fomalhaut system.
  • Radio Free Albemuth, novel by Philip K. Dick. Fomalhaut is the origin of an alien satellite.
  • Pebble in the Sky, novel by Isaac Asimov. Fomalhaut is referred to as being the star system of a group of humans who speak with a pronounced accent.
  • FTL:2448, role-playing game by Tri Tac Games. Fomalhaut is the location of a major space station, Alverez Station, orbiting the planet America (Fomalhaut V).
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Fomalhaut is home to a terraformed agricultural colony that grows grain and exports them to other systems for a profit. To prevent pollution, manufacturing is forbidden.
  • The Steps of the Sun (Doubleday 1982), by Walter Tevis has a starship travel to the uranium-rich FBR 793 to solve Earth's energy problems in 2062
  • The War Games of Zelos (Fawcett Books, 1975) by Richard Avery. Zelos is the fifth planet, colonized in 2078
  • Escape Velocity Nova, computer game by Ambrosia Software. The Fomalhaut System is a minor trade hub featuring the inhabited worlds Gem and Snowmelt.
  • In Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century, Fomalhaut is the home star system for an alien race known as the Chatlian.
  • In the 2001 Particle Systems game Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos, Fomalhaut has been colonized by humans and is the first accessible star system in the Gagarin cluster, by virtue of possessing a jump accelerator linked to Santa Romera in the Badlands cluster. It is also, therefore, the best-defended and last to fall against the alien invasion.
  • A written Star Trek story entitled The Truth Machine features the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise led by Captain James T. Kirk encountering the armies of Fomalhaut V, who seeks the secret of Warp Drive in an effort to conquer the universe, after being tricked into beaming down to the surface of the planet.
  • In Children of Dune, near the end, Leto muses briefly about Fomalhaut while marveling at various ancient kernels of wisdom he recalls easily yet are lost to all but the inherited ancestor lives retained in his memory, as he moves about peering through narrow windows in time-space.
  • Fomalhaut is mentioned in Philip K. Dick's book, The Divine Invasion, where the star is home to a communications hub. This is also mentioned in Dick's related short story, "Chains of Air, Web of Aether".
  • In Andre Norton's The Zero Stone, protagonist Murdoc Jern identifies his companion animal as a "...phwat, from Fomalhaut...".
  • In Greg Egan's Diaspora Fomalhaut is one of the stars mankind heads towards to escape a disaster.
  • In Jack Vance's Star King, Kirth Gersen is explaining the origins of the Star Kings, and hypothesises that men were taken to their homeworld in antiquity by a lost alien race, who may be "whoever left ruins on the Fomalhaut planets".

Gamma Andromedae (Almach)

Gamma Draconis (Eltanin)

Gliese 687

Gliese 754 (HD 36395)

The double planet system consisting of Genji and Chujo orbits this red dwarf in the multi-author novel Murasaki for which Poul Anderson has provided the physical layout.

Gliese 876

The Gliese 876 solar system is the location for most of the action in the novel "Building Harlequin's Moon" by Larry Niven and Brenda Cooper. One of the three planets - it is unclear which one - is re-named "Harlequin" by the people who visit there.

Groombridge 34

  • Space: Above and Beyond, television series. Groombridge 34 is the location of the largest extrasolar USMC fleet base, and is the expected target of the chigs in the pilot episode (though this intelligence is later revealed to be incorrect). It is also the location of the first part of the episode "Mutiny".
  • Macross Plus, OVA anime television series and compilation film. Groombridge 34 is a possible location of the fictitious "Groombridge 1816" (Helios) system, stated to be 11.7 light years[13] from the Solar System, about the same distance as Groombridge 34 (11.62 ly). Planet Eden, located within the Groombridge 1816 system, is the location of the New Edwards Test Flight Center [14] and its major city, Eden City. The name Groombridge 1816 may be an alteration of the name of the real star Groombridge 1618.
  • Halo computer game series. The Groombridge 34 system is the site of a decommissioned construction platform. In 2531, a group of Spartan-IIs are sent to investigate rebel activity at the platform.[15]
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. This crowded system has three stars, multiple gas giants and numerous planets. It is also heavily developed, with multiple colonies and space stations present within the system.
  • The Alliance-Union universe, C. J. Cherryh's series of science fiction novels including Downbelow Station and Finity's End. Groombridge 34 is the location of one of lesser mentioned space stations in the so called 'Hinder Stars', Olympus Station.

Groombridge 1618

  • Mindbridge (St. Martin's Press, 1978), novel by Joe Haldeman. A planet orbiting Groombridge 1618 serves as the homeworld for the psi-amplifying "Groombridge Bridge" and the L'Vrai race, and is reached by the faster than light system, the "Levant-Meyer Translation"
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Groombridge 1618 is uninhabited in the Frontier series.
  • Revelation Space, novel by Alastair Reynolds. The planet Turquoise, a Pattern Juggler world, orbits Groombridge 1618.
  • Calculating God, novel by Robert J. Sawyer. Beings from a planet orbiting Groombridge 1618 send a starship to make Betelgeuse go supernova, an event which threatens the death of humanity, as well as the Wreeds and Forhilnors, two races that had recently contacted humanity.

Iota Horologii

  • Iota Cycle, novel by Russell Lutz. Iota Horologii is a setting for colonization and terraforming. It has six planets, the second, Asia, being Iota Horologii b. The planets are named after the continents of Earth, in order from closest to the star: Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, America, and Antarctica.
  • Outre Mer, novel by Michael Puttré. The earthlike moon Outre Mer orbits the gas giant Adonis, the second planet of Iota Horologii. It is populated by human refugees, descendants of adbuctees taken by the Greys, inhabitants of the systems of Zeta Reticuli. The world is also the home of the Duranni, an intelligent aboriginal species.
  • Halo video game series. In the series, Soell is the traditional name given to Iota Horologii, the star that Threshold, Basis and Installation 04 orbit.[16]

Izar (Epsilon Boötis)

Kapteyn's Star

Kruger 60

  • In C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union future history, Kruger 60 is the site of Venture Station, one of the stations on the "Great Circle" chain of space stations that terminates at Pell Station in the Tau Ceti system.

Lacaille 9352

Lalande 21185

Lalande 46650

  • In C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union future history, Lalande 46650 is the star system containing the planet Cyteen as well as a space station with the same name. The planet is the capital of the Union and the setting for the novels Cyteen and Regenesis.

Lambda Serpentis

  • In the pen-and-paper RPG Blue Planet by Biohazard Games and Fantasy Flight Games. Lambda Serpentis is orbited by a habitable planet called Poseidon, named after the Greek god of the sea.
  • In the Halo series, the system is home to the human colony, Jericho VII.[18][19]
  • In the reference book Star Trek: Star Charts, Lambda Serpentis is mapped as a binary star with two class G components, and is identified as the location of the planet Stameris that was mentioned in Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Acquisition".

Maia (20 Tauri)

  • Mary Poppins (1934) by P. L. Travers. A personified Maia arrives in England to do some Christmas shopping for the other stars in the Pleiades.
  • Operation Bororo (1973), Czechoslovak science fiction film. Protagonist Ori-Ana (played by Bozidara Turzonovova) identifies Maia as her home star.

Markeb (Kappa Velorum)

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Markeb is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Hokún, or Glass Monsters.
  • In the Babylon 5 television series, this system was inhabited by a species of the same name, who go extinct in 2260, due to a species wide plague. the Hyperspace Jumpgate in the system is later blown up by Captain Sheridan in order to destroy a Shadow vessel with the explosion, and also stop scavengers from being able to loot the former Markeb homeworld.

Mintaka (Delta Orionis)

  • "Who Watches the Watchers", episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. Mintaka III is a planet inhabited by Mintakans, a Vulcan-like race at a pre-industrial level of development under observation by Federation personnel. After the events in this episode, a tapestry provided by the Mintakans to Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise-D would be seen adorning the chair in his office or quarters.
  • Red Shift, novel by Alan Garner. The lead characters are fixated on Orion in general and Mintaka in particular.
  • Although the star itself didn't appear ingame, Mintaka is the capital of Alfard Empire in both Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean and Baten Kaitos Origins.
  • "Durka Returns", episode of Farscape television series. Mintaka III is home to the Nebari, a race that sees violence and nonconformity as unacceptable traits to be removed whether the "patient" chooses or not.

Mira (Omicron Ceti)

  • A Relic of the Empire, short story by Larry Niven. Pirates raiding Puppeteer ships hide on a planet orbiting Mira Ceti.
  • Star Trek film and television franchise:
    • "This Side of Paradise", episode of Star Trek (TOS) television series. The Enterprise arrives at Omicron Ceti III, the site of a colony established years earlier but whose inhabitants were believed killed by (fictitious) "Berthold rays". Upon visiting the planet, the Enterprise crew is surprised to find the original colonists blissfully alive though behaving somewhat oddly. Mira would be an unlikely host for the idyllic planet depicted, given that in the present epoch its brightness varies by roughly a factor of 1000 with a period of 332 days.
    • "Conspiracy", episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. The Enterprise secretly meets three other Federation starships above Dytallix B, the fifth planet in orbit of Mira and one of seven once mined for the Federation by the Dytallix Mining Company. It is a tidally locked planet long deserted. On its surface, Capt. Picard meets with the captains of the three other starships to discuss suspicions of a possible conspiracy and infiltration of Starfleet Command. In the same episode, Lt. Cmdr. Data names the "red giant known as Mira" but an on-screen graphic identifies this system as the fictional Mira Antlia, perhaps to distinguish it from the Omicron Ceti system mentioned in the original series.
  • In Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, the heroes arrive at a levitating island called "Mira, the City of Ilusions".
  • in 1959 novel War against the Rull by A.E.Van Vogt the hero is being kidnapped from earh by the Rulls an alien race and transferred in Mira 23 a planet around the sun Mira

Mirach (Beta Andromedae)

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Mirach is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Ninín, or Little Ones.

Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris)

  • Enigma and Empery (books 2 and 3 of the Trigon Disunity series of novels) by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. The Mizar system is one of several (others include Alphecca and Phad) home to powerful and xenophobic aliens who are essentially part of their planets. They react to perceived threats—essentially, any intrusion at all that's not Mizari—with a massive blast of psychic energy, sometimes sending it across the light-years against inhabited worlds.
  • The Demon Princes series of novels by Jack Vance. Mizar has at least two inhabited planets and at least six in total.
  • The Heart of a Star, issue 3 of The Sandman: Endless Nights comic book. Mizar appears as an anthropomorphic star, a female made of blue flame. Mizar serves as the host of an assembly of various cosmic entities, and as the creator of the palace where they meet; she is described as having "power to spare".
  • "Allegiance", episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. Mizar II is the home planet of the pacifistic green humanoid Mizarians.
  • BattleTech wargame and related products. Mizar hosts a habitable planet noted for its luxurious resorts and vain inhabitants.
  • The Daedalus Encounter, video game. Takes place on Mizar[citation needed].
  • "Sign In Stranger", song in The Royal Scam album by Steely Dan. Contains the lyric, "Have you heard about the boom on Mizar Five? / People got to shout to stay alive"
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. The Mizar system has no permanent habitations - settlement would be nearly impossible here anyway, as the system simply consists of two stars in binary orbit.
  • Way Station by Clifford Simak. A mathematical model developed on Mizar is mentioned early in the book, the main character of which is a human caretaker of a secret alien "bus stop" in Wisconsin.
  • Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It is not stated within the first book Forever War, but in the second Forever Free Mizar is named as the Star around which the planet Middle Finger orbits. Middle Finger is the planet where the remaining veterans of the Forever War go when they discover that the war is over. It is implied in the book that Middle Finger is being used as a breeding planet that the Clone race Man can use if it is discovered that the endless cloning causes some racial weakness in the clone race.

Mu Cassiopeiae

  • Trigon Disunity trilogy, by Michael Kube-McDowell. Home star of Journa, the first human colony with whom Earth restores contact after 50,000 years. The series doesn't mention that the star is really a close binary system and therefore probably doesn't have planets.

Nu Ophiuchi

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Nu Ophiuchi is the sun (Tuleng) for the system which includes the planet Tékumel.

Omicron Persei

  • "11001001", Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. The USS Enterprise was delayed at Omicron Persei before reaching a Starbase.
  • Futurama, animated television series. The Omicronians claim to be from Omicron Persei 8, 1000 light-years from Earth. Living in the 31st century, the Omicronians receive and are fans of 20th-century television broadcasts from Earth.

p Eridani

  • In the Revelation Space fiction series, the system harbours a life supporting planet named Ararat. Much of the book Absolution Gap takes place within the system.

Phecda (Gamma Ursae Majoris)

Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris)

Pollux (Beta Geminorum)

Procyon (Alpha Canis Minoris)

  • DC Comics, the android race the Manhunters were based on the planet Orinda in the Procyon system.
  • Viagens Interplanetarias, series of novels and short stories by L. Sprague de Camp. The Procyon system contains the inhabited planets of Osiris, Isis, and Thoth.
  • Known Space series by Larry Niven. The human colony world of We Made It orbits Procyon. Pierson's Puppeteers are said to have evolved in a solar system with a star similar to Procyon (which later became a red giant).
  • Terran Trade Authority books by Stewart Cowley. Procyon is orbited by three planets, the middle of which, Sisuphos, is a barely habitable mining world.
  • Star Trek, film and television franchise:
    • Star Trek: Star Charts, reference book. Procyon VIII, or Andor, is stated to be the planet which the moon Andoria orbits. This conjecture is not supported by onscreen evidence in any Star Trek film or television episode.
    • "Azati Prime", episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, television series. Procyon is the scene of the Battle of Procyon V, a Federation victory in a war against an alien species known as the Sphere Builders. The USS Enterprise-J took part in this battle. In 2153, Captain Jonathan Archer was brought 400 years forward in time to witness part of the battle.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Procyon is represented as an uninhabited, worldless binary star system.
  • Halo Wars, Xbox 360 game. Part of the game is set on the planet Arcadia, a fictional world in the Procyon System.
  • Lost Colony, computer game. The planet Procyon III orbits the star Procyon.
  • In Treasure Planet, Captain Amelia, captain of the R.L.S Legacy mentioned Procyon in one of the scenes, saying "Late of a few run-ins with the Procyon Armada, nasty business, but I won't bore you with my scars."
  • Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon, video game. Procya in the Procyon system is the homeworld of the Empire's worst enemy, the Procyon Expanse.
  • Escape Velocity, computer game by Ambrosia Software. The Procyon System is a major hub in Confederate space.
  • Escape Velocity Nova, computer game by Ambrosia Software. The Procyon System begins the game as an uninhabited system connecting to four others, but one of the minor mission strings terraforms one of the planets into the world Nirvana.
  • Star Control II, computer game. The second world in Procyon is the homeworld of a hybrid race that helps the protagonist reach the objective of the game.
  • Non-Stop, novel by Brian W. Aldiss. Procyon is the destination for the Generation Ship in the novel.
  • Supreme Commander, computer game. A planet in Cybran territory which holds QAI's mainframe. The player must defend it or attempt to capture it in Operation Mainframe Tango or the Aeon mission Operation Entity
  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Procyon is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Pé Chói, or Listeners.
  • His Master's Voice, novel by Stanislaw Lem. A repeating neutrino signal comes from the direction of Alpha Canis Minoris.
  • Life Probe and Procyon's Promise, both novels by Michael McCollum mention Procyon as the home to a civilization that has discovered the secret of Faster Than Light (FTL) travel.

Proxima Centauri

  • "Proxima Centauri" (1935), short story by Murray Leinster. A group of humans travel to the star in a huge ship, and are subsequently ambushed by a race of plant men.
  • Orphans of the Sky (component stories first published 1941) by Robert A. Heinlein. The generation ship Vanguard was originally destined for Proxima Centauri
  • The World in Peril (1955-6), third series of the Journey Into Space radio series by Charles Chilton. At the end of the series, the Martian Invasion Fleet, including many humans who have led unhappy lives on Earth, leave for Proxima Centauri, even though they will not reach it within their life-spans.
  • The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965), a novel by Philip K. Dick, portrays a man who on his long journey to Proxima Centauri is becoming obsessed by a divine power.
  • Captive Universe (1969) novel by Harry Harrison, Proxima Centauri was the intended destination for a generational starship converted from the hollowed out shell of the asteroid Eros.
  • Terran Trade Authority books by Stewart Cowley. Proxima Centauri is the home system of the Proximans, adversaries of Terrans and Alphans during the Proximan War.
  • Babylon 5 television series. "Proxima" is an Earth Alliance colony. It secedes from the Alliance in 2260 for political reasons and is blockaded. It is liberated by John Sheridan in late 2261.
  • Event Horizon, film. An ill-fated spacecraft uses an experimental faster-than-light technology to travel to Proxima Centauri. A malfunction of the stardrive sends the ship to an out-reality dimension that could be identified as Hell.
  • Destroy All Humans!, video game. The protagonist race comes from Furon in the Proxima Centauri system.
  • PROXIMA (2008), a feature film by Carlos Atanes, takes place in a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri.
  • The Magellanic Cloud (Obłok Magellana, 1955, untranslated into English) a novel by Stanislaw Lem. A barren Mars-type planet of Proxima Centauri is used as a way station of the first interstellar expediton of mankind.
  • Moscow - Cassiopea", where a group of teenagers are heading to Schedar, and pass Proxima Centauri.
  • Doctor Who, in the Doctor Who special "The Waters of Mars", the star is mentioned as being the first destination of mankind after developing light-speed technology.
  • Far Gate, computer game. The New Terran Dynasty exiles a group of colonists to Proxima Centauri after faking data from the Starfarer probe that states that the planet Vesta, orbiting the star, is habitable. The colony moves throughout the galaxy via wormholes and eventually returns to Vesta after the Nue-Guyen, a race of friendly aliens, put creatures on the surface that transform trichloroethylene into breathable gases, nearly terraforming the planet.

Regulus (Alpha Leonis)

  • Babylon 5 television series. Regulus is the site of the Earth Alliance's first extrasolar colony.
  • BattleTech wargame and related products. Regulus is the capital system of the Duchy of Regulus, one of the founding states of the Free Worlds League.
  • Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War, computer game. Regulus is the greatest stronghold of the Neo-Terran Front during their rebellion against the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. In the Frontier series, Regulus has no permanent settlements. Minor mining operations do occur within the system, however.
  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Regulus is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Vléshga, or Shunned Ones, Stinking Ones.

Rigel (Beta Orionis)

Main article: Rigel in fiction

Ross 128

Ross 154

  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. The moon Merlin orbits a gas giant planet of Ross 154. Merlin is an ice world similar to Europa. Its primary export is fish, harvested from the liquid ocean that exists below the icy crust. Importing luxury goods from Sol and illegally exporting animal skins to Barnard's Star is a profitable enterprise. Ross 154 is the primary starting point of Frontier: Elite II.
  • Night’s Dawn Trilogy, by Peter F. Hamilton: Nyvan, a “terracompatible planet” orbiting Ross 154, was the second Human colony of more than 600 as of 2611, the trilogy’s fictional present. An important part of the 2nd volume plays in Tonala, one of Nyvan’s many countries.[20]
  • Terminal Velocity: The Moon Dagger spaceship was located in the Ross 154 system. The fictional planet Tei Tenga, the original setting for the seminal Doom FPS game, is also located in the Ross 154 system.
  • In C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union future history, Ross 154 is the site of Glory Station, one of the stations on the "Great Circle" chain of space stations that terminates at Pell Station in the Tau Ceti system.

Ross 248

Ross 780

Rukbat (Alpha Sagittarii)

  • Dragonriders series of novels by Anne McCaffrey. Rukbat is the star about which the planet of Pern orbits. McCaffrey calls Rukbat a yellow class G star, but it is actually a blue class B dwarf star.
  • Sailormoon manga comics., The Galaxy Cauldron, source of all life, lies within Zero Star, which is in the center of Alpha Sagittarii.

Shaula (Lambda Scorpii)

Sheliak (Beta Lyrae)

  • In the German 1959 novel Ich lebte im Jahr 3000 (I lived in the year 3000), written by Heinz Gartmann under the pseudonym Werner Wehr and with an introduction by Eugen Sänger), a journalist who is an outspoken sceptic with respect to the possibility of time dilation accidentially goes on a 10-year shipboard time relativistic flight to Sheliak.
  • The 1962 Disney movie "Moon Pilot" has an astronaut with an alien benefactor, a woman from a planet orbiting Beta Lyrae; she gives Lyrae as her name when she purchases a ticket on a United Airlines flight.
  • "The Soft Weapon", short story in the Known Space series by Larry Niven. Humans and Kzinti dispute the ownership of a Slaver stasis box at Beta Lyrae. The story was later adapted to become the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "The Slaver Weapon".
  • "The Ensigns of Command", episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation television series, features a race called the Sheliak, although they are described as coming from a star-system called Shelia [sic]. The Enterprise-D is dispatched to evacuate human colonists from Tau Cygni V, which is being ceded under a peace treaty with the Sheliak, who view humanoids as inferior.
  • The Tail of Beta Lyrae (1983), computer game by Philip Price. Set in an asteroid belt within the Beta Lyrae system.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Beta Lyrae is one of the few hand-coded systems. It has an unusual property: If the system is entered, the game crashes as a result of the code being unable to handle the mechanics of a contact binary. This can not be observed, however, without a heavily modified ship or unless the player manipulates the game in some way, as Beta Lyrae is so distant from the core systems. However if the player completes the storyline in Frontier: First Encounters, the character will end up with a spacecraft more than capable of reaching Beta Lyrae. This issue occurs on ALL ports of Frontier and First Encounters as Beta Lyrae was hand-coded on all versions of the game (PC, Amiga, etc.) This prevents anyone from accessing the system. There is however a patch that enables the player to access the system.
  • The BattleTech sourcebook "Invading Clans" states that a planet in orbit around Sheliak was the site of one of the more unusual fights in the original Clan invasion, Operation Revival. Being an unarmed planet, the Ghost Bears were instead challenged by the Sheliak All-Star Professional Football team, hoping that the Clans were unaware of the rules and thus could be defeated. However, due to Football being popular among the Ghost Bears, and the Ghost Bear team being staffed by 'Elementals', genetically engineered soldiers averaging eight feet tall and 400 pounds each, the Sheliak team was defeated 84-3, and surrendered the planet to the Ghost Bears during the post-game show.
  • In the first Marathon game, the AI Durandal tells the player that he will go to Beta Lyrae to "see if it's as beautiful as everyone insists."

Sigma Draconis (Alsafi)

  • Honor Harrington series of novels by David Weber. The Honorverse version of the Sigma Draconis system includes the technologically advanced planet Beowulf, adjacent to a wormhole.
  • Rollback by Robert J. Sawyer. Central to this 2007 novel are signals received in 2009 and 2049 from Sigma Draconis.
  • "Spock's Brain", episode of Star Trek (TOS) television series. Planets III, IV and VI of Sigma Draconis are all Class M, capable of supporting human life, but III and IV are still incapable of interstelar flight, while VI is in an ice age; a visit to VI reveals that the planet once supported a civilization with very high technology.
  • Total Eclipse (Doubleday, 1974) by John Brunner has several missions to the third planet during the years 2020–2028 by the Stellaris, a ship that can travel through "qua-space"
  • In the 1971 novel The Byworlder by Poul Anderson an alien coming from Sigma Draconis is central to the plot. His spaceship is a coveted prize for all Earth nations.
  • In the 1991 novel A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason, explorers from Earth unexpectedly discover that a planet of Sigma Draconis has intelligent life.
  • Sigma Draconis is the "home system" of an advanced, space-faring race known as the L'Chal Dah, in the science-fiction background designed by Redmond A. Simonsen, for the Simulations Publications, Inc. Wargaming titles Starforce: Alpha Centauri and StarSoldier.

Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris)

Main article: Sirius in fiction

Tau Ceti

Main article: Tau Ceti in fiction

Theta Centauri (Menkent)

  • In Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein this system has thirteen planets, one of which is Garson's Planet, where humans live in domed cities, due to the poisonous atmosphere.

Theta Ursae Majoris

  • In the Thousand Cultures series of novels by John Barnes, Addams, home to 102 cultures, orbits Theta Ursae Majoris.[21]

Unukalhai (Alpha Serpentis)

  • Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Unukalhai is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Hegléth, or Swamp Folk.

UV Ceti

  • In Timemaster by Robert L. Forward, a wormhole is opened between Earth and this location, 8.9 ly distant
  • In A Gift from Earth by Larry Niven, the robot ramscoops use the gas cloud around UV Ceti for braking on their way to Tau Ceti.
  • In C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union future history, UV Ceti is the site of Eldorado Station, one of the stations on the "Great Circle" chain of space stations that terminates at Pell Station in the Tau Ceti system.

Van Maanen's Star

  • A World Out of Time (1976), novel by Larry Niven. Van Maanen's Star is the first target intended for protagonist Jerome Corbell's terraforming loop.
  • Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. The Van Maanen's Star system is the home of a radical religious sect that believes in suffering as the key to salvation. Mining is done without machines, and any surplus money that is not needed to satisfy basic requirements like oxygen, food and water is burned in a sacred ceremony. The system is only accessible with a special permit. Due to the banning of ordinary trade items, Van Maanen's is a haven for smugglers.
  • In C. J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe, van Maanen's star is host to the star station Mariner.

Vega (Alpha Lyrae)

Main article: Vega in fiction

After triggering a rescue beacon on Pluto, Kip and Peewee are taken to recouperate on an unnamed planet around Vega in Heinlein's popular juvenile book Have Space Suit--Will Travel.

Wolf 359

Zeta Aquilae

Zeta Orionis

Zeta Reticuli

  • Exo-politics, song by English rock band Muse. The song deals with the idea that forces within the New World Order have coordinated an invasion by Zeta Reticulans to earth.
  • The Silicon Embrace (1996), novel by John Shirley. A race of aliens from Zeta Reticuli influences the evolution of humanity.
  • Alien (1979), film. Lambert, the navigator, declares that the spaceship Nostromo is "just short of Zeta II Reticuli" presumably referring to Zeta² Reticuli. The system contains a fictional ringed planet bearing a moon called LV-426 or Acheron. Acheron is described as a 1200 kilometer large asteroid, with a surface gravity of 0.86, orbiting a brown dwarf. The planet does not receive sufficient heat from the main star to be fit for colonization, but the trickle of radiation emitted by the brown dwarf qualifies the planet as "inhabitable".
  • Space: Above and Beyond (1995), television series. Zeta Reticuli is the home system of the Chigs and the location of celestial body 2063F (the Chig homeworld), 2064K codenamed Anvil, 2064F's moon, 2064R and Ixion.
  • In the Known Space universe, Zeta Reticuli is the home system of the Pierin.
  • The Bushido Incident (Daw Books, 1992) by Betty Anne Crawford. Japan and Korea fight a war there in 2055. In 2073, the indigenous ZR2 race share their vast medical knowledge with humans in exchange for being able to send ill ZR2s to Earth.
  • In the Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) MapleStory, aside from the humans and other creatures inhabiting the "Maple World", the only other life forms are from a planet orbiting Zeta Reticuli.
  • In the television series Seven Days, the Roswell saucer was said to belong to the Greys from the Zeta Reticuli star system. The saucer used Element 115 for its propulsion, and this fuel source was harnessed by Project Backstep for time-traveling.
  • In C.J. Cherryh's Alliance-Union future history, Zeta Reticuli is the site of the planet Gehenna, setting of the novel Forty Thousand in Gehenna.

Zeta Tucanae

References

  1. ^ Sector 001: Vulcan's Sun
  2. ^ Vulcan system, Memory Alpha website
  3. ^ Known Space: The Future Worlds of Larry Niven
  4. ^ Searles B (1988). Films of Science Fiction and Fantasy. New York: Harry N. Abrams. pp. 116–17. ISBN 0-8109-0922-7.
  5. ^ MemoryAlpha:Beyond Antares
  6. ^ Resnick, Michael. Battlestar Galactica 5: Galactica Discovers Earth. Berkley Books. ISBN 042504744X. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  7. ^ Eisner, Will. Life on Another Planet. Kitchen Sink Press. ISBN 9780878163700. OCLC 46688772. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  8. ^ Heinlein, Robert A. (1980). Starman Jones. New England Library. ISBN 0-450-04799-7.
  9. ^ p. 153, The Brightest Stars: Discovering the Universe through the Sky's Most Brilliant Stars, Fred Schaaf, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2008, ISBN 978-0-471-70410-2.
  10. ^ pg. 22, Barnes, John. The Armies of Memory. ISBN 978-0-7653-0330-1
  11. ^ Harvest Harvest on Halopedia, the Halo wiki
  12. ^ pg. 12, Barnes, John. The Merchants of Souls. ISBN 978-0-312-89076-6
  13. ^ Egan Loo (1977-05-11). "Atlas: Eden". Macros Compendium.
  14. ^ Egan Loo (1977-05-11). "Atlas: Universe". Macros Compendium. Retrieved 2002-09-16.
  15. ^ Groombridge 34 Groombridge 34 on Halopedia, the Halo wiki
  16. ^ Soell Soell (Iota Horologii) on Halopedia, the Halo wiki
  17. ^ Vernor Vinge (1986). Marooned in Realtime. Bluejay Books/St. Martin's Press.
  18. ^ Lambda Serpentis System Lambda Serpentis System on Halopedia, the Halo wiki
  19. ^ Jericho VII Jericho VII on Halopedia, the Halo wiki
  20. ^ Ross 154 on Confederation Handwiki (Night's Dawn Wiki), an external wiki
  21. ^ pg. 56, Barnes, John. The Armies of Memory. ISBN 978-0-7653-0330-1
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