Arcturus, alternatively known as Arctura, was a habitable planet located in the Alpha Boötis System in the Outer Rim Territories' Crestus Prime Cluster. It was the homeworld of the Arcturian and Arctura species.
Overview
A single small earth-like world that orbits around Alpha Boötis, Arcturus is quite a strange world. A collision with an iron-heavy planetoid millennia ago knocked Arctura’s axial tilt 98 degrees from its orbital plane, creating a peculiar seasonal pattern, with each hemisphere spends fifty years in the blistering sun before being plunged into frozen darkness for the next fifty. The planet’s equatorial region is its only habitable zone—a glittering twilight plain of mesas and placid lakes called the Guardian Belt. The Arcturian people live in warrens carved into the sides of mesas. They have built a number of stepped temples for stellar calculations, sprawling aqueducts, and the Grand Kivas, a single massive community square. The Arcturians gather here to greet star travelers visiting their world. Weyland-Yutani maintains a nearby mushroom farm settlement and trading post called Mesa Canyon. Here, visiting merchants can barter with friendly Arcturians for art, science, and medicine. A small contingent of Colonial Marines protects them from hostile indigenous lifeforms.
History
Arctura is the site of humanity’s first recorded contact with an intelligent extrasolar lifeform, the Arcturians, a sentient extrasolar species that somehow shares 99.99961% of their DNA with humanity. In the late 2150s, Arctura became the focus of a brutal war between the UA and the CANC that destroyed many of their cultural artifacts. Arcturian society has never recovered. Their population is said to be around 250,000, although this estimate is likely on the low side, as most post- war Arcturians shun contact with off-worlders. While the majority of Arcturians are friendly, some groups will kill off-worlders on sight. The warrens near Mesa Canyon are considered safe, but armed war parties are sometimes encountered in the wild.[1]
Behind the scenes
In reality, Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. With a visual magnitude of −0.04, it is the fourth brightest star in the night sky, after −1.46 magnitude Sirius, −0.86 magnitude Canopus, and −0.27 magnitude Alpha Centauri. It is a relatively close star at only 36.7 light-years from Earth, and, together with Vega and Sirius, one of the most luminous stars in the Sun's neighborhood.[1]
Trivia
- In the tabletop board game Aliens Adventure Game the planet's name is spelled on the included star map as Arcturas.
- The trading card-format comic Operation: Aliens makes mention of a previous encounter the Colonial Marines had with Xenomorphs on the planet "Arcturus IV".
- In the non-canon Aliens: Infestation video game, a planet Arcturia is mentioned, likely a reference to Arcturus.
- Arcturus is one of the many planetary destinations mentioned in the Sevastopol Spaceflight Terminal in Alien: Isolation.
- In the non-canon Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator comic, Batman says he thinks the Predator homeworld is somewhere in the neighborhood of Arcturus.
Appearances
- Alien (novel) (mentioned only)
- Aliens Adventure Game (as "Arcturas")
- Superman and Batman vs. Aliens and Predator (mentioned only)
- Alien: Isolation (mentioned only)
- Alien: Invasion (mentioned only)
- Alien: The Roleplaying Game — Colonial Marines Operations Manual