As promised...
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[table]
Groombridge 34
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Stellar characteristics
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Constellation
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Andromeda
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Right ascension (Epoch J2000)
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00h 18m 22.89s
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Declination (Epoch J2000)
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+44° 01' 22.6?
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Spectral type
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M1.5V + M3.5V
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Distance from Sol
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11.70 ± 0.03 ly
(3.587 ± 0.010 pc)
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Other designations
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ADS 246 A, Gliese 15, GX/GQ Andromedae, BD +43°44, GCTP 49, GJ
15 A/B, Gi 171-047/171-048, HD 1326, HIP 1475, LHS 3/4, LTT 10108/10109, LFT
31/32, SAO 36248, Vys 085 A/B
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Planets
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Meru (G 34 A I)
Thuvaraiyam Pathi (G 34 A II)Shamballa (G 34 A III)
Kumari Kandam (G 34 A IV)
Mughal (G 34 A V)
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[/table]The Groombridge 34 binary system was the
target of the 2021 venture between graduate students from the University of Delhi’s new Xeno Studies department and the Nekomi Institute of Technology, as
well as a grab-bag of just over a dozen scientists from across the globe. The
project was supported by the Republic of India and several private donations.
Leasing the eight kilometer mobile station NFV
Barge, the expedition left in June of that year for a one year
mission.
Having already predicted the
existence of planets from long-range observations, being carried along were
numerous long-term research satellites, a disassembled, prefabricated base for
use as either a planetary facility or a lunar/asteroidal one, and a quantum
entanglement communicator purchased from Catgirl Industries. This was part of a
secondary goal of the project, in which those members of the DU-NIT Mission
previously volunteered and vetted would establish a research station in the
Groombridge 34 A system.
What the crew found upon arrival
stunned them. At three, the 34 A system remains the current record for
habitable planets.
The Groombridge 34 System
Following the International Astronomical
Union’s moratorium on using Greek mythological names for stellar bodies, the
crew of the 2021 DU-NIT Mission happily used names of locations from the Hindu
faith for Groombridge 34 nomenclature.(1)
Meru
The planet closest to the star is a hot one. This is not only due to its
location, though. Meru is 5.05 time the mass of Earth, making it a
superterrestrial. Furthermore, it is so geologically active (Starfleet Class C
[Supergeomorteus]) that it has no permanent surface and its atmosphere is a
soup of volcanic gasses.
Thuvaraiyam Pathi
The second inner planet is the first of the habitable bodies of the system.
Despite not retaining as much water as it would have slightly further out,
Thuvaraiyam Pathi maintains 45 percent surface water in the form of two salt
water oceans and numerous lakes and oasis. Regardless, just over half of the
land area is near-desert scrubland.
The planet is also clearly a Gardener-affected world. Surveyed geological
strata identified by the 2021 mission display no fossil record whatsoever. Even
more conclusively, plant samples taken by the mission closely match with
samples obtained from Gallifrey.
Shamballa
The second of the system’s habitable worlds, it is the most lush world and has
just over 60 percent water coverage. Extensive river systems carry water across
the planet’s land masses and desertification is minor. It possesses one moon,
Kalapa.
After the examination of the second planet, a similar study of the third
indicates that Shamballa is a natural world. One particular geological sample
was an upthrust cliff along a fault line, examination of which revealed an
iridium rich layer, estimated at 14 million years ago, similar to that
possessed by Earth’s geological record at the K-T Extinction Level Event.
Research Station Deva was founded November 15, 2021 on Shamballa’s western
continent.
Shamballa would become the focus of
India’s 2023 colonization program. By 2024, a population of 20,000 was
permanently established.
Kumari Kandam
“A world of Australias” as described by one observer, Kumari Kandam’s land
is composed entirely of island continents. The land to water ratio is roughly
even at 48 to 52 percent respectively. The environment is analogous to Earth
temperate forests for most of the planet, cooling very slowly eventually to
sub-arctic and polar conditions. It has three moons, all small, captured
asteroids.
Asteroid Belt
Your basic debris belt of leftovers from the system’s creation, estimates
place it at only about half as dense as Sol’s belt.
Mughal
The final planet of the 34 A system is a dark green, ringless gas giant
roughly in the weight class of Neptune. Due to focus on the three habitable
planets of the system, little was observed about the system’s big brother other
than it possessing several cryogenic-type moons similar to Triton.
Groombridge 34 B
The companion to Groombridge 34 A was only observed in passing on the 2021
mission’s trip home. An example of a solar system that failed to form, it
possesses numerous asteroid belts and several dozen dwarf planets. Groombridge
34 B was, however, noted as a possible rich source of space mining.
1: The exception is Mughal, which is named in honor of the empire by that
name.
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Edit: Was supposed to be University of Delhi, not New Delhi. Corrected.
