## Overview Helena is a main-sequence G-type white dwarf located two parsecs spin-coreward of [[Whistler]]. The entire system is a source of curiosity, as the star is combusting and emitting numerous curious substances, including [[Arnite]]. (It is theorized that stars such as Helena originally forged the [[Arnite]] around [[Whistler's Reach|The Reach]].) These particles cast the entire system in an eerie blue-violet, and have created novel concentrations of resources across the system's bodies. Helena is truly a frontier. While it was surveyed relatively early in the colonization process, the planet of the same name hadn't been thoroughly explored until the last century. Helena is currently home to fewer than half a million explorers, scientists, and prospectors, most of whom are employed by [[Anderson Exploration]], which has a significant license from [[The Whistler Colonial Corporate Council|The Council]] to exploit any resources they discover. ![[Helena.webp]] ## Gehenna Gehenna is an uninhabitable ball of fire, two light minutes from the primary. The planet is wracked by the tidal forces, melted by the heat, and scoured by the novel particles from the star. It very likely contains intense concentrations of industrially-useful materials, but the technology doesn't currently exist to get at them. ## Shield Belt The Shield Belt is an incredibly dense and chaotic field in a spherical spread that has yet to stabilize on the orbital plane of the primary. Geologists theorize that it was formed by the break up of a planetary body relatively recently (in astronomical terms). The field intercepts many of the particles emitted by the star, preventing Helena from being scoured. #### [[University of Whistler – Sagan Applied Research Group|SAR]] Arnold Observatory [[University of Whistler – Sagan Applied Research Group|Sagan Applied Research]] maintains an asteroid-based observatory of the primary in the Shield Belt. This station is largely automated, but is occasionally occupied for specific projects. The observatory is designed to house up to four people for three months. ## Helena UWP: [D855514-A](https://travellertoolsdemo.azurewebsites.net/uwp/D855514-A/info?tasZone=) Cool and queer, Helena is definitely a product of its star's peculiar properties. The planet is thirteen light minutes from its primary and surrounded by rings of ice and [[arnite]]. Deep water oceans combined with the cool, dry continents and novel particles in the ecosystem have evolved surreal but hardy native flora and fauna. While the gravity and pressure are perfectly tolerable, the trace ammonia in the atmosphere makes most people uncomfortable, especially for extended periods of time. Several small settlements are scattered around the planet, mostly bases for geological and xenobiological research funded by [[Anderson Exploration]]. #### AEX Kimball [[Anderson Exploration]] maintains an orbital transfer station over Helena to aid in shutting resources to and from the surface. This small station is home to a few dozen workers at any given time and acts as offices for Anderson's Director of Operations for Helena. ## Vesper Vesper is a fairly typical gas giant at the edge of the Helena system. Besides trace amounts of novel particles from the primary giving it that peculiar _Helena Hue_, it is unremarkable. #### [[Whistler Defense Force|WDF]] Cook Anchorage The [[Whistler Exploration Corps|Scout Service]] maintains a refuel and resupply anchorage in orbit around Vesper to act as a jumping-off point for expeditions coreward to Serenity, Solace, Trilby and beyond. The station is automated and is little more than a floating warehouse of consumables. Cook Anchorage also contains a stock of emergency grade-two [[Concerning Interstellar Communications|express buoys]] and a small net node to capture returned research data. ### Lycastus Vesper's largest moon Lycastus is a relatively straightforward rocky body. ### Parhasius Parhasius is Vesper's second largest moon an dis almost entirely composed of ice-capped water and ammonia oceans. Numerous simple organisms inhabit these dark seas with DNA-analogues similar to other native species in The Reach.