The Star Systems of Infinite Space: A Brief Guide to the Sea of Stars

The Star Systems of Infinite Space: A Brief Guide to the Sea of Stars

In this post, I will briefly digress from explaining the various factions of Sector Prime and will describe its many types of star systems in detail. Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars relies on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for stellar classification. This system classifies stars based on their temperature and brightness. When clicking on an unexplored star system, its spectral type will be shown as part of its description. This characteristic determines which types of planets can orbit it, and whether or not life can establish a presence there. I will describe each star type in descending order of habitability.

Examples of Type G yellow main sequence stars, the most habitable systems of Sector Prime

Yellow, yellow-white and yellow-orange main sequence stars (type G) generally have moderate mass, lifespan, luminosity and temperature. Their habitable zones are wider than those of all other star types. Hence, planets orbiting such stars will often be teeming with life and be covered mostly in grasslands, oceans, and/or jungles. The Sun is the prototypical type G star, but four such stars in the Infinite Space trilogy are equally prominent. Glory, an exact duplicate of the Sun, is the star around which Hope (the Terran colony home world) orbits; Horlek'k, the war-ravaged Ravian home world, also orbits a yellow star, as does the Klakar home world of Kreee'Ark; and the foggy Urluquai home world, Urlu, belongs to a yellow-white star.

Two examples of K-type orange stars, cooler than yellow but still conducive to biological life

Orange and red-orange main sequence stars (type K) are cooler, smaller, longer-lived and more mature than yellow ones; they can support a wide variety of planetary environments and lifeforms. The range of different planets around such systems runs the gamut from cold, barren deserts and cool deciduous forests to warm temperate grasslands or even tropical forests. Both stars in the 61 Cygni binary system fall into this category. The Zorg home world, Loryx, orbits an orange star, as does the Muktian home world, Bandur; if you visit either planet, you will be told that it has a cool climate, which explains why Muktians generally tend to live underground.

Typical examples of white (top) and rare green (bottom) type F main sequence stars, which are hotter and brighter than type G stars

White main sequence stars (type F) are relatively young and hot, with a slightly higher mass than yellow ones, but have a shorter lifespan. However, any planets orbiting them tend to be warm and fertile with generally tropical climates, although some of them may turn out to be hot, arid deserts. Sirius, the brightest star observable from Earth, is a typical example. The Garthan home world, Gartha, always orbits a white star, and justifiably so; being cold-blooded, Garthans would become sluggish at best if exposed to the cooler temperatures of a planet orbiting a cooler, dimmer star, and as such their home world not only has a tropical climate, but is covered mostly in jungles. Green stars are also classified as type F, but their bizarre optical properties defy not only logic, but also the laws of physics and so it is likely that they could only have formed if the universe was suddenly remade by accident. The habitability of such a system, however, is identical to that of a white main sequence star.

A typical type A blue-white star, slightly hotter than a type F star and hence less likely to have habitable planets

Bluish-white stars (type A) are slightly hotter and more luminous than white ones; as such, their planets are often young and geologically unstable. Due to the higher temperature and shorter lifespan of such a star, it is less likely, though still possible, for life to evolve in these systems. Fomalhaut is just one of countless stars to fit into this ill-defined classification. None of the 12 factions in the game have home worlds around this type of star; it is either too hot or too cold.

Examples of blue type B and O stars, the hottest and brightest of all, but too hot to have life-bearing planets

Blue giant and supergiant stars (types B and O) are the hottest and most luminous of all, and some of them are also among the largest, but their extremely high temperatures and short lifespans (a by-product of their high mass) preclude biological life from thriving there. Any planets in orbit would be intolerably hot and totally uninhabitable, with extensive volcanic activity and arid surroundings. Rigel, part of the constellation Orion, is perhaps the best-known blue star in the cosmos. The Tchorak home world, P'Chora, orbits a blue giant; these silicon-based septapi thrive in hell worlds similar to this one. Occasionally, a blue star will turn out to be unstable as soon as you explore it, and explode one month later, destroying every planet in the system in the process and leaving behind a neutron star.

Type K and M red giants (top and middle) and supergiants (bottom) are bright but cool, with minimal potential for habitable worlds

Red giants and supergiants (either type K or M) are very luminous due to their immense size and mass, but appear red due to their low surface temperature. These stars are in the later stages of their lifespans, and as such, planets in orbit are generally barren and dry, with little potential for harboring life. Betelgeuse, another star in the Orion constellation, is the most famous of all red supergiants (Arcturus, the brightest star in the constellation Taurus, is merely a red giant). Although Calatia, the Calatian home world, orbits a red giant, this pairing of an old star and a fertile temperate planet makes little sense since the central star will be near the end of its life, thus leaving little time for native life to evolve. As with their blue counterparts, red (super)giants have a chance of exploding within a month of you exploring them, again leaving behind nothing but a neutron star.

A pair of type M red dwarves, the most common ones in the universe, and among the coolest and smallest

Red dwarves (of which Proxima Centauri is the best-known example) are the only other kind of Type M star in the game; they are small, cool, and dim, but have an extremely long lifespan due to their low mass. Their low surface temperature means that any planets around a red dwarf will usually be cold, barren and hardly able to support biological life. Any habitable planets in such a system will therefore have cool temperate climates at best, and cold icy ones at worst. The Tan Ru homeworld, Quarnix, orbits such a star, but is barren and airless, and the ring of debris around it is called the Starship Graveyard for a reason: it contains equipment left behind by battles against other factions' flotillas.

Not strictly stars, these objects are nevertheless worth visiting, but their systems are clearly uninhabitable for completely different reasons

Sea of Stars also contains brown dwarves, which are star candidates with too little mass to begin hydrogen fusion, and neutron stars, which are the extremely dense remnants of massive stars which died in a supernova explosion. The very low temperature of the former and intense radiation emitted by the latter makes such systems uninhabitable. Although absent from this particular game (but present in previous installments), white dwarves (the hot cores left behind from the death of intermediate-mass stars like our Sun) and quark stars (hypothetical supernova remnants denser than neutron stars but not as dense as black holes) are also considered to be devoid of life for this reason. Binary star systems can also be found, but in this game, only the dominant star (usually the more massive one) is described (although Weird Worlds had a set of unique messages for them), and planetary habitability of such systems is dependent on the overall characteristics of both stars. Finally, a black hole - described in-game as an area of space with enough concentrated mass for its escape velocity to exceed the speed of light - will never have a system of planets orbiting it, and its extreme gravitational pull makes any visit suicidal without an Anti-Graviton Shunt.

In short, Sector Prime can be a wonderful place to explore fully, provided that you know where to go to next. The Sea of Stars is very diverse, and contains a wide variety of planets and lifeforms. However, visiting every system in the sector is just one of many objectives on your quest. Nevertheless, since exploring another system will increase your score, you should discover as many of the star systems in the sector as you can. What are you waiting for? The galaxy is your oyster!