Worlds of Ahu

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

1. Haoni

Type of planet: Rocky

Size (in Earths): 0.6

Moons: 0

Orbit: 185 days

Visibility: Naked eye

Appearance: Yellow-white 

2. Toa

Type of planet: Rocky

Size (in Earths): 0.95

Moons: 1

Orbit: 352.7 days (356.33 local days)

Visibility (from Suruam): Naked eye

Appearance (from Suruam): Blue-white

3. Suruam

Type of planet: Rocky

Size (in Earths): 1.2

Moons: 2

Orbit: 6 Earth years

Visibility: Naked eye

Appearance: Gold

4. Pelam

Type of planet: Gas giant

Size (in Earths): 566

Moons: 5

Orbit: 22 Earth years

Visibility: Naked eye

Appearance: Dark orange with two rings 

5. Sukari

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 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. All names are given here in their Letoa form.

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

Toa’s moon is known in Letoa as Sumba. It is 0.012 times the size of Toa and orbits its host planet in 25.5 days. Its name also varies between different languages.

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

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