THE PLANET LURATIA
Luratia is 380 light years from Earth and bears remarkable similarities to Earth life and planetary conditions due to several advantageous facts:
- our suns are of the same spectral class and the same general size, heat and luminosity
- our atmospheres share similar properties, particularly the chemical composition of the “air that we breathe” and the types of climatic conditions that determine weather and temperature
- our planets are close in size, similar in geologic composition and ideal for harboring and sustaining many types of life forms
Like Earth, Luratia is a rocky oceanic planet that harbors land, sea and air creatures. Of the land animals, a human-like species lives and flourishes here. The people of Luratia are in many ways like the people of Earth, more similar than your science fiction tales like to portray. On other inhabited worlds, however, whose suns, planetary characteristics and atmospheres are vastly different from ours, creature life is much more divergent (bizarre, even, by our respective standards).
- Luratia is 17% smaller than the Earth,
- Luratia has 6 continents, 3 oceans and no moons,
- Luratia has a dense atmosphere, creating almost continuous cloud cover around the planet, with the exception of the north and south poles
- Luratia has warmer temperatures than Earth, cooler polar regions and 2 distinct seasons.
Luratia in Detail
Size of the Planet
Luratia is 17% smaller than the Earth, slightly larger than the planet Venus. Like Earth, Luratia is a rocky oceanic planet that harbors land, sea and air creatures.
Distance from the Sun
Relative to Earth, Luratia is much closer to its sun. The inherent hazards of radiation exposure at this close proximity is ameliorated by several factors:
- Luratia’s sun is cooler than Earth’s sun,
- Luratia has a thicker atmosphere than Earth, which filters more of the gamma radiation, and
- Luratia has a much stronger and larger magnetosphere than Earth’s, which further shields the planet from solar radiation and solar wind.
The close distance to its sun has made solar collection on Luratia a more obvious and effective means of producing energy for the planet.
Sun Characteristics
Both Luratia and the Earth revolve around class GV stars, white mid-size stars that appear to have a yellow hue. Luratia’s sun is smaller, cooler and dimmer than the Earth’s. Luratia is closer to its sun than Earth, and orbits its sun more quickly.
Orbital Period
Luratia makes a complete orbit around its sun in just under 300 days.
Length of Days and Years
On Luratia, time is reckoned according to the orbital period of the the planet. Here are the lengths of Luratia’s days, weeks, months and years:
1 day = 20 hours
1 week = 6 days = 120 hours
1 month = 30 days = 5 weeks
1 year = 10 months = 50 weeks = 300 days (299.423 days to be precise)
See also Measurement of Time
Atmospheric Pressure
Luratia’s atmosphere is more dense than that of Earth, which protects planetary life from damaging gamma radiation of its sun. Although Luratia’s sun is cooler than Earth’s sun, Luratia is closer to its sun. The thicker atmosphere makes life on Luratia possible and account for the fact that there is a significant amount of cloud cover throughout the year and seasons.
Atmospheric Composition
Luratia’s lower atmosphere is richer in oxygen (24%) than Earth’s atmosphere, at 21%. The higher oxygen levels contributes to the health and longevity of the Luratian people. Their brain function is positively effected as is their sense of well being. The presence of helium in the air they breathe additionally contributes to slower respiration, slower heartbeat and a propensity for a relaxed, calm state of mind. The more technologically advanced Luratians have long been interested in raising their atmospheric oxygen levels, which has in fact risen in the last 500 years due to various measures that have been experimented with. The most effective of these has been the significant increase in population of algae, plankton and other monocellular organisms that produce oxygen. A large proliferation of algae farms has been implemented on the continent of Artunne for hundreds of years.
Magnetosphere
Luratia’s massive iron core effects a powerful magnetic field, which in turn creates a very strong and spatially large magnetosphere. A planet’s magnetosphere deflects particles moving toward the planet and protects the planet’s surface from harmful gamma rays pouring out from its parent sun. Without a protective magnetosphere, life could not survive on a planet.
Temperatures
The surface temperature of Luratia is more than double that of Earth, due to 3 factors:
- thicker atmosphere
- continual cloud cover
- closer proximity to the sun
Together, these factors create a type of Greenhouse Effect. The average daily high and low temperatures on Luratia are:
High at the poles: 98 f / 36.5 c
High at the equator: 150 f / 65.5 c
Low at the poles: 75 f / 24 c
Low at the equator: 132 f / 55.5 c
Avg daily world temp: 113 f / 45 c
Luratian’s do not find these temperatures to be uncomfortable. Our bodies are well suited to function well within the entire range of temperatures. We do not experience the great temperature extremes that Earth and certain other inhabited worlds do. We do not complain of heat or cold; nor do we complain of the incessant cloud cover. We enjoy our clouds, we know they protect us from the harsh radiation of our sun. We early learned that we could not afford to pollute our lower atmosphere, and this has prevented us from causing dangerous levels of air pollution.
Life: Origins of Life
For 4.2 billion years, a diverse spectrum of living organisms and creature life has evolved on Luratia. Although the suns of Earth and Luratia were formed 4.5 billion years ago from the Andronover Nebula, their planetary formations took different courses as did the total time it took for the full development of the planets we know today as Earth and Luratia (two of 165 inhabited evolutionary planets whose suns were formed from the Andronover Nebula). The Earth and Luratia are remarkably similar planets with respect to their suns, atmosphere and geological composition — factors that either inhibit or foster the appearance and evolution of carbon-based life. In the case of Earth and Luratia, conditions are ideal for the support of an abundance of life forms.
Life: Evolution of Species
Although the physical characteristics of life on our two worlds vary considerably, the basic building blocks and the evolutionary progression of life are quite similar. Life on both planets was initiated by the emergence of primitive marine vegetable life, originally as monocellular organisms which then mutated into multicellular organisms. At this point, the evolutionary adventure of each planet diverges, conditioned by a multitude of factors, including changes in atmosphere, variances in climatic conditions, changes in oceanic mineral composition, tectonic activity, species adaptation and countless others. It can be said that on both worlds, radically new species of life emerged from era to era, and the overall developmental trend from plant to insect, invertebrate to vertebrate animals, mammal-like species, primate-like species, and ultimately human-like races followed a fairly similar course. Each planet had its scores of evolutionary dead-ends, such as Earth’s dinosaurs. And both planets’ fossil records demonstrate so-called missing links, even those of Luratia, who has been excavating, examining and categorizing the geologic histories contained in the layers of rock and stone rich with fossil remains.
Unlike Earth, the people of Luratia do not quibble over the fact of evolution from a single genetic source. They never have. Early on in their geologic investigations, Luratian scientists observed that the attributes of various life forms — no matter how different in appearance or historic age — shared fundamental properties. No scientist ever offered a theory contrary to evolution; nor has any Luratian religion (including the primitive creation stories) contradicted evolution theory.
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