Vulcan

Vulcan is the innermost planet orbiting Toliman, the dimmer component of the Alpha Centauri binary system. It is a hellworld nearly twice as wide as Earth and roughly eight times the mass; an arid, scorching wasteland of punishing gravity beneath a dense, opaque atmosphere of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and water vapor. Its four hundred atmospheres of pressure make it the archetype and namesake of the vulcanic planetary class. Its sub-cloud surface temperature is around two thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and a single immense cyclonic storm blankets the entire solar hemisphere due to its tidal locking. No known form of life is able to survive on the surface of Vulcan -certainly not any kind of human- and even most machinery does not last long. However, centuries of technological innovation have allowed the human inhabitants of the system to set up automated mineral extraction operations on Vulcan, and form settlements in its orbital space to harness the intense power of its sun Toliman.

Vulcan seen through the SAMCO telescope.

Archive Data

HAZARDS

ORBITAL CHARACTERISTICS

System

Alpha Centauri

Parent body

Toliman

Perihelion

0.31 AU

Aphelion

0.35 AU

Semi-major axis

0.33 AU

Eccentricity

0.07

Orbital period

72.7 days

Rotation period

1744.7 hours

Solar day

1745 hours

Obliquity

0.7°

Notable satellites

• Aetna (station)

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Class

torrid supervulcana (V)

Radius

11595.2 km

Surface area

1.69e+9 km²

Volume

6.53e+12 km³

Mass

4.7e+25 kg

Gravity

23.3 m/s²

Atmospheric pressure

400 atm

Atmosphere composition

• 62% CO₂
• 36% SO₂
• 2% other gases

Average temperature

1100°C

HABITATION INFORMATION

Tech level

15

Population

5.7 million (orbital only)

Demonym

Vulcanese

Member of

Centauri Republic

Reality Check

At the time that Astra Planeta's fictional Alpha Centauri system was created, Toliman was suspected to have a closely-orbiting, high-mass planetary companion - this planet candidate was the basis for Vulcan. However, the candidate has since been refuted, and Vulcan remains simply fictional.