Catalogue name: ASTRO 7288-406 b

Location: Fireworks galaxy

Planet type: Super-Earth

Size: 2.5 Earth radii

Mass: 8.7 Earth masses

Mean Density: 7.2g cm^-3

Age: 6.2 Billion years

Gravity: 2.1g

Orbital Period: 32 Earth years

Day length: 38 Earth hours

Average Temperature: 45K (-228.15 degrees Celsius)

Composition: Water, Ammonia, Methane, and Carbon

Sun: K-type main sequence

Sattelites: 2

Bouvet is a terrestrial planet located in the very distant parts of the Fireworks galaxy. The planet was discovered by (Norweigan) Earth scientists in 4289, naming it after Bouvet Island, due to its distance from other discovered planets within the Fireworks galaxy (Kaldstein would not be discovered for an additional 1000 years); even as more planets were discovered, Bouvet remained pretty isolated, with the nearest planet being around 2450 light years away. Although considered a somewhat uninteresting planet scientifically, Bouvet has become notorious for its isolation and hostile climate and, with the advent of space travel, many planetary nations and scientific communities advise avoiding this location at all costs. Only three expeditions were made to this planet, the final of which resulted in the fatal end of the entire crew.

Bouvet is a very large terrestrial planet, with a radius 2.5x that of Earth's, a mass 8.7x that of Earth's, a density of 7.2g cm^-3, and a gravity 2.1x that of Earth's. It is the only planet orbiting it's sun, a K-type main sequence star (ASTRO 7288-406), although a few asteroids (including large ones) have been spotted orbiting this star and the planet does have a Mercury-sized moon, Steinkrater, orbiting it (along with a large asteroid, Kaldstein). The planet is the most distant object in this system, with an orbital period of 32 years, and it has a very eliptical orbit, with the planet being 2.7 billion at its far edges and 1.2 at its close edges; it's also a very old planet, about 6.2 billion years old, and is expected to last many more years, due to its sun's very stable nature and said sun being only a little more than one billion years older.

Bouvet was discovered to be mainly composed of water, ammonia, methane, and carbon. The atmosphere is thick (but translucent) and comprised mostly of Ammonia, with traces of water vapor and methane present. The planet is covered in ice sheets several dozens of kilometers thick, which are comprised of frozen ammonia, methane, and water vapor, and geological analyses have revealed that the planet is full of carbon (with some silicon and iron present too), with some of this material present on the planet's surface too; said analyses also reveal that the planet is also geologically active, with active plate tectonics and many sub-surface volcanoes and vents that spew out ammonia, methane, and water vapor out into the atmosphere. Further analyses of the planet show it to be very mountaneous and somewhat rugged, with many ice mountains and canyons, caused by a mixture of the planet's geological activity and the gravitational stress of the large moon, Steinkrater.

One of Bouvet's notable features is that the planet is very hostile, with surface temperatures averageing at 45K (or -228.15 degrees Celsius); due to this (and the planet's distance from the sun), the water vapor, methane, and ammonia that is spewed from the volcanoes and vents refreezes itself and precipitates back onto the planet after a while. Along with this, and combined with intense geological activity and the planet's rotation, strong winds are very common on Bouvet, as are intense blizzards, often combined with powerful lightning storms. Due to these factors, life has not been observed on the surface of Bouvet.

However, beneath the kilometers of ice sheets are giant sub-surface lakes, heated by large hydrothermal vents, to which their existence is pointed out by massive guysers; these lakes are pitch black, due to their great distance from the surface (and the planet's distance from its star), and haven't been thoroughly explored due to these factors. These giant sub-surface lakes are home to very complex ecosystems that live off of the energy from these hydrothermal vents, including producers, that directly feed off of the vents, and various stages of consumers, including relatively large ones. Intriguingly, due to the fact that all of these lakes are sectioned off from each other, life in these lakes have evolved independently, resulting in very unique species in different lakes; most lakes have life that is blind and rely on physical sensing of their surroundings, but some lakes have life has evolved with bioluminescence, lighting up the once pitch-black lakes, with consumers gaining optical sensors that allow them to see.

In terms of Bouvet's sattelites, Steinkrater is a Mercury-sized exomoon that was discovered to have a completley different composition than Bouvet, comprised mostly of iron, nickel, and silicon with no discernable atmosphere or geological activity; this exomoon is highly believed to have been a separate planet that was captured by Bouvet's gravity several billion years ago. Along with this, Steinkrater is highly pocked with ancient craters, a result of asteroid and meteoroid impacts early in this exomoon's life. The other moon, Kaldstein, is a large and icy asteroid with a composition of carbon and silicon; it's a very unassuming asteroid and is very likely to have been captured by Bouvet's gravity as well.

----------------------------------

I've been regainig my love for Astronomy, thanks to this class about aliens I'm taking in university, and it made me want to create my own planets, to intense detail! I was also wanting to create settings for my future game projects, as opposed to just having everything take place on Earth (even though it will be a setting), and so far, the only place I've made was the (seemingly Earth-like) planet of Sahra... need more diversity, so I'm going to make this series of "planet catalogues," to talk about different planets... yeah!

This is actually a replacement to the sketch of Bouvet on my DeviantArt page, which I felt looked pretty cheap and poor; that's going to be storaged away. This new one features Bouvet, Steinkrater, and Kaldstein orbiting their K-type main sequence star, which is GLOWING! This one was more complicated to draw, especially for the lighting, but not that difficult!