LX-V232
M-CLASS TERRESTRIAL PLANET
Klingonese: “Du’ram” or “Shepherd’s Night”
Surface Image Unavailable at this Time
POPULATION
None
CLIMATE
Desert
MAJOR FEATURES
Various Unexplored Archeological Sites
–
HISTORY AND EXPLORATION
The planet LX-V232 is the sole planet of its system and by appearances the most unremarkable part of the entire stellar formation. The system’s isolated and relatively remote location near the upper bounds of the Galactic Accretion Disc means it shows up in very few early stellar maps of the local space-fairing cultures. The Klingons were the first chronologically to reference the system in any records, under the name of “Du’ram” or “Shepherd’s Night” as it has been translated. They list it as a possible location to “avoid attention” but indicate caution should be sustained when in the system or on the planet; “… wary as a [Shepherd] guards his flock throughout the night.” It is this knowledge base that much of the systems reputation among smugglers and freelance captains know it, and have only used the star system as a navigation point or at most a brief stop off. As stellar surveys have revealed the system Gravity Well Ring much of the history of disappearances and danger has largely been regulated away from the planet.
Despite being an M-Class Planet, the isolation of the system and already fragile natural biome means colonization would be an expensive and time consuming endeavor. As a result, no real interest has been taken in LX-V232 until recently, after a detailed scans revealed signs of possible archeological sites at various places across the surface of the world. While materials at these sites have been identified as those expected for a pre-industrial civilization, no on the ground excavations have been formed. As the planet itself was barely considered possible to support life, a civilization of this advancement, albeit extinct, is a remarkable and unexpected find.
The conflict between the Klingon Empire and the Federation of Planets, and subsequent ones since, largely made devoting efforts towards investigating the LX-V232 planet and system too dangerous and unfeasible for research opportunities. Only now, with Starfleet again able to devote some time to exploration, has attention returned to such an intriguing mystery well within the foyer of Federation Space.
CLIMATE AND TOPOLOGY
An M-Class Planet by definition only, LX-V232’s fragile desert biome barely keeps itself in balance. Only 5% of its surface is covered with water and scans indicate what little there is is heavily saline. Ice composes 20% of the surface, largely at the poles but also in alpine glacial ranges on the planet’s Eastern Hemisphere.
Cursory analysis of planetary surface scans indicate there are a few rocky regions and others with valley like formations. Most of the planet is covered with plateaus and large dry basins. Dust storms whip around the planet, fueled by the extreme temperature difference caused by the 72 hour days.
The planet’s standard nitrogen and oxygen atmosphere is stable and overall on par with a normal desert world of comparable size. However, the magnetic field of LX-V232 is fairly weak, possibly indicating the stellar body was formed long ago or has a non-standard variation in the make up of its planetary core.
BIOLOGICAL LIFE
Supporting only a few forms of plant life on the surface, larger animals are only believed to be subterranean. The overly salty oceans hold the possibility of life, although orbital scans of the few shallow water bodies were inconclusive.
The sparsity of life on the planet, as well as the recent discovery of a long past civilization burred on the surface, indicates the possibility of some cataclysmic environmental change or disaster taking place. While the signs are there, whether or not such a disaster occurred or what it may have been are unknown at this time.
ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES
Orbital Scans have revealed the presence of at least three highly detailed archeological sites belonging to a previously unknown civilization on the planet’s surface. Analysis of these scans reveals materials on par with a pre-industrial civilization, but the sites have yet to be verified by archeological study on the ground. The age of these sites has yet to be determined, nor has the species originally responsible for their construction.
While possible pings for other sites appear in various places across the planet, three have been positively identified from orbit. The first and largest on the edge of a large desert basin, the second near an outcropping of rock atop a northern plateau, and the third near the edge of the alpine mountainous region in the planet’s eastern hemisphere. Higher resolution scans of the planet will likely reveal more sites in time.