Vulgur
Vulgur is the second planet from the star Dzurrun, and is the only habitable world known to exist within the Dzurrun Star System. The planet is roughly the same age as earth; geological estimates place the age of Vulgur at around ~4.3 billion years old - roughly 200 million years younger than earth). Despite this, fossil records of multicellular life date back to at least 850 million years, with some fragmented and highly questionable findings as old as 914 million years old. Thus, the oldest possible multicellular organisms of Vulgur predate similar organisms on Earth by approximately 300 million years, resulting in intricate and complex organisms in a highly advanced biosphere.
The planet itself is orbited by two celestial features. A moon named Azyrul orbits the planet with moderate eccentricity and an extreme axial tilt. Slightly farther inward rests a ring system beginning at around 2.56 radii and ending at 2.96 radii.
Atmosphere & Climate
The atmosphere of Vulgur is a Nitrogen-Oxygen atmosphere that is in many respects comparable to Earth's. Despite these similarities, there are some significant differences - most notable among them is the significantly higher presence of Methane and Carbon Dioxide. In particular, Methane makes up 0.08% of the total atmosphere - a factor over 470 times its concentration in Earth's atmosphere. For this reason, and due to how influential its presence is on Vulgur's climate, it is generally included as a primary constituent of the planet's atmosphere rather than being lumped into a general "trace gases" category. A visual representation of the composition of Vulgur's atmosphere is provided via. the graph below:
It is worth noting that the above graph omits other trace gases besides Carbon Dioxide (in Vulgur's case Methane is not counted with other trace gases as described above), which collectively make up the other 0.05% of the atmosphere; these include, but are not limited to, Neon, Krypton, Xenon, Helium, Nitrous Oxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Ammonia, Iodine, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Sulfur Dioxide. This data also omits water vapor, which ranges between 0-5% depending on region, time of day, weather, and time periodIt is also worth noting that the composition of Vulgur's atmosphere has changed over time - for instance, Carbon Dioxide levels where at toxic levels to most multicellular life forms for much of the planet's early history.
Crust & Composition
The overall composition of Vulgur is fairly similar to Earth, given that the planet has a similar mass (1.05 Earths) and only a somewhat lower density (5 g/cm3). The planet's overall composition is divided into two main constituent categories: iron - the most common metal on the planet and which serves as a representation of both the material itself and other denser metals and compounds, and silicates - a general category referring to compounds containing the element silicon which serves to represent rockier, less dense components of the planet's composition. A general breakdown of the planet's composition when divided into these two categories is represented by the following graph:
It should be noted, however, that the above data represents a generalized breakdown of the planet's composition for several reasons - most notably the fact that the exact composition of the interior of the planet is unable to be known exactly with current statistics and equipment. However, several other materials - such as water - are omitted from the above graph as a matter of convenience; the total percentage of the composition taken up by several known materials - such as organic polymers, water, and salts - are either so small as to be omitted or are included under the "Silicate" category.
Despite the planet itself being less dense than earth (although still comparable), the crust of Vulgur is strangely slightly denser than Earth. Several compositional differences are also present, despite otherwise apparent similarities. A breakdown of the eleven most common elements found in Vulgur's crust is presented via. the graph below:
Several observations can be made from the data above. Similarly to earth, Oxygen and Silicon are the two most common elements present within the crust, followed by Aluminum and Iron. Additionally, these elements occur with similar frequency on Vulgur as they do on earth, however Oxygen and Iron are somewhat less common and Aluminum is slightly more common. While Calcium and Sodium both occur in the same descending order when listed by percentage of composition, Calcium is somewhat rarer on Vulgur - as is Potassium. Magnesium is significantly rarer on Vulgur, as is Titanium (which is not even present among the 11 most common elements in Vulgur's crust). Sodium occurs with the same frequency on Vulgur as it does on Earth.
The two most significant deviations from Earth's crust composition, however, is the extremely high presence of Sulfur and Vanadium's unusual frequency. Sulfur is the 5th most frequently occurring element within Vulgur's crust, and grants the planet a somewhat yellowish tint at high altitudes (when dense foliage is not present) and in some deserts. Additionally, minerals containing sulfur such as pyrite, lapis lazuli, and cinnabar occur with much higher frequency within the crust than they do on Earth. Stranger still is the presence of Vanadium within the crust, which is by far the densest material to be among the most common elements within the crust. While it is less dense than iron, it is of a high enough density to be suspected to sink in high quantities into the mantle rather than settle within the crust. The exact reason for this phenomenon is unknown, however one hypothesis states that high temperatures within the mantle during crust formation coupled with a relatively denser lower mantle forced Vanadium upwards into the crust in high quantities. Other hypotheses speculate that Vanadium within the crust may be extraterrestrial in origin, or may have come from the lunar decay that resulted in the formation of the planet's ring system.
As a final consideration, the data in the above graph is rounded and thus is not exact. For sake of completeness, a table is provided below detailing the specific frequencies of the fifteen most common elements within Vulgur's crust as percentages of the total composition, rounded to the nearest hundredth (tenth in the case of Oxygen and Silicon).
| Element | Atomic Number | Percentage of Total Composition |
|---|---|---|
| Oxygen | 8 | 44.3% |
| Silicon | 14 | 28.3% |
| Aluminum | 13 | 8.63% |
| Iron | 26 | 5.04% |
| Sulfur | 16 | 4.32% |
| Calcium | 20 | 3.12% |
| Sodium | 11 | 2.33% |
| Potassium | 19 | 1.53% |
| Vanadium | 23 | 1.02% |
| Magnesium | 12 | 0.36% |
| Hydrogen | 1 | 0.14% |
| Phosphorous | 15 | 0.10% |
| Titanium | 22 | 0.08% |
| Manganese | 49 | 0.07% |
| Gallium | 31 | 0.06% |
Important Statistics
General Information
Mass: 1.05 earthsRadius: 1.05 earths
Density: 5.0 g/cm3
Semi-major axis: 0.581 AU
Orbital period: 6.28 months
Rotational Period: 34 hours
Axial tilt: 18.3 degrees
Atmospheric mass: 1.36 atm
Atmospheric pressure: 1.15 atm
Magnetosphere size: 2.5 earths
Magnetic strength: 0.215 gauss
History
Lemuran Period: 860 mya -
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