Darkheart system

The Darkheart system was a star system located between the spiral arms of Mutter's Spiral. Its gravitational centre was a red supergiant and a neutron star. A human colony was established on an apparent planet in the system, which was termed the Darkheart colony, and itself contained the powerful temporal device known as the Darkheart. In actuality, Darkheart was not a planet, but an extension of the system's neutron star, the mass of which had been artificially displaced via a dimensional bridge.

Astronomical data

The binary star system consisted of a class K4 red supergiant and a neutron star. According to a report by Lieutenant Clark aboard the Piri Reis, the red supergiant had a luminosity of approximately -1,000,000, a visibility magnitude of -6 and a surface temperature of no more than 3000 K.

The neutron star was 9 km across and with an estimated mass of 3.8 solar masses, right at the borderline of becoming a black hole. The system was a semi-detached binary, which meant that every 7400 years the neutron star went nova.

The planet Terileptus was the closest spacefaring planet to Darkheart.

History

At some point in the system's history, one of its stars went supernova, forming a neutron star in the process. The supernova destroyed all of the planets near the centre of the system, leaving five dead planets at the fringes of the system.

At the turn of the 31st century, an Imperial Navy expeditionary force controlled by the Special Services Directorate of the Earth Empire was sent out to the system. Records suggest that a squadron was sent out including the flagship carrier Pendragon, two cruisers Tigris and Donau and two destroyers Foxhound and Jaguar. A colony was founded on the sole planet in the system, which became known as Darkheart.

The Darkheart colony was founded members of the Earth Empire but persisted as an isolated Earth Empire colony even into the age of the Galactic Federation. (PROSE: The Dark Path ^[+]Loading...["The Dark Path (novel)"])