The worlds of Ayu

The solar system of Ayu contains six planets. The first three planets are rocky. Tekuo is the second of these. The outer three are gas giants. Most are visible from Tekuo by the naked eye. Working outwards, they are:

1. Haoni

Type of planet: Rocky

Size (in Earths): 0.6

Moons: 0

Orbit: 210 days

Visibility: Naked eye

Appearance: Yellow-white

2. Tekuo

Type of planet: Rocky

Size (in Earths): 0.95

Moons: 1

Orbit: 352.7 days (356.33 local days)

Visibility (from Surũã): Naked eye

Appearance (from Surũã): Blue-white

3. Surũã

Type of planet: Rocky

Size (in Earths): 1.2

Moons: 2

Orbit: 9 Earth years

Visibility: Naked eye

Appearance: Gold

4. Phele

Type of planet: Gas giant

Size (in Earths): 566

Moons: 5

Orbit: 28 Earth years

Visibility: Naked eye

Appearance: Dark orange with two rings

5. Sukhari

Type of planet: Gas giant

Size (in Earths): 908

Moons: 9

Orbit: 57 Earth years

Visibility: Telescope only

Appearance: Pale green

6. Uto

Type of planet: Gas giant

Size (in Earths): 421

Moons: 6

Orbit: 92 Earth years

Visibility: Telescope only

Appearance: Blue

The planets are listed above under their Lemohai names. The names of the visible planets (the first four) vary considerably between languages, but they tend to be named after deities.

The outer two planets are named after their discoverers. These names are more consistent cross-linguistically. Their names are given here in their Lemohaised form.

For ease of communication, the international scientific community sometimes refer to the planets by a solar system number. In this scheme, Haoni is Ayu 1, Tekuo is Ayu 2, and so on.

Tekuo’s moon, Sũto, is worthy of note. It is 0.012 times the size of Tekuo and orbits its host planet in 25.5 days.

The solar system also contains numerous other smaller objects such as sednoids, comets, asteroids and dwarf planets.

Like the humans of Earth, the Ike of Tekuo have ventured into space. They are a little ahead of us in this regard. They have set foot on both Haoni and Surũã, returning several times to both planets. They have established a permanent research base on Sũto.

By David Johnson

Conlanger, writer and activist.

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