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The planetary systems of stars other than the Sun and its Solar System are a staple element in much science fiction.
Overview
The notion that there might be inhabited extrasolar planets may be traced at least as far back as Giordano Bruno, who, in his De l'infinito universo e mondi ("Concerning the Infinite Universe and Worlds", 1584), declared that "Innumerable suns exist; innumerable Earths revolve about these suns ... Living beings inhabit these worlds". Allusions to inhabitants of other stars' planetary systems remained rare in literature for many centuries afterward. One of these is Voltaire's Micromégas (1752), which features a traveller from Sirius.
As science fiction became established in the early twentieth century, destinations such as the Moon, Mars, Venus or other bodies within the Solar System became stereotyped. Authors began to invoke a variety of mechanisms for superluminal travel and placed their stories on planets in systems around other stars, a move giving them freedom to construct more exotic fictional worlds and themes. This tendency became predominant once exploration of the Solar System showed that it was increasingly unlikely that any highly-developed form of extraterrestrial life existed in the Solar System.
Although some of the stars named in works of science fiction are purely imaginary, many authors and artists have preferred to use the names of real stars which are well known to astronomers, either through being notably bright in the sky as seen from Earth or being relatively near to Earth.
Some of these stars appear to be unsuitable for planets with advanced life, assuming that Earth is typical. The solar system was already a billion years old before life appeared on Earth. Complex life appeared three billion years later, in the 'Cambrian explosion'. Inherently bright stars like Sirius and Vega have total life-times of only about 1 billion years, so they are relatively unsuitable for development of complex life. Red giant stars are a relatively short phase near the end of a star's lifetime and are some 100 times brighter than the original star. Except for a few unusually close stars, those stars which are not intrinsically so bright as to raise this short lifetime constraint, appear so inconspicuous in the Earth's sky that they lack the proper names that would make them attractive to science fiction authors.
General uses of star names
Stars may be referred to in fictional works for their metaphorical or mythical associations, but not as locations in space or centers of planetary systems:
- Oedipus the King, play by Sophocles. The Corinthian Shepherd references 'the rising of Arcturus' as a time marker while trying to jog the memory of the Theban Shepherd about their acquaintance prior to the Theban's entrusting the child Oedipus to the Corinthian rather than killing him as he had been instructed.
- Polaris, short story by H. P. Lovecraft. Describes a lost polar civilization on which the star Polaris always shines.
- Doorways in the Sand, novel by Roger Zelazny. Phecda along with the other stars of Ursa Major is mentioned during the protagonists' jaunts atop the steeples of Old Europe.
- Children of Dune, novel by Frank Herbert. Fomalhaut is called Foum al-Hout, the polar star of the south.
- The Truelove (1992) the fifteenth in the series of Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian. Jack Aubrey establishes his ship's longitude in the Pacific ocean by taking a lunar distance on Fomalhaut
- Justine (1957), novel by Lawrence Durrell. "Living on this bare promontory, snatched every night from darkness by Arcturus, far from the lime-laden dust of those summer afternoons, I see at last that none of us is properly judged for what happened in the past."
List of planetary systems in fiction
Planetary systems appearing in fiction are:
- Star Trek film and television franchise. 40 Eridani A is the location of the planet Vulcan, home of the Vulcan species. Although this was never stated on any TV show or film, both the authorized Star Trek book Star Trek: Star Charts and Gene Roddenberry[1] give this location. In addition, Commander Tucker's statement in Star Trek: Enterprise that Vulcan is 16 light years from Earth supports this as 40 Eridani A is 16.39ly from Sol.[1]
- In the RPG GDW's 2300 AD, Montana (Spanish: Montańa) is the second planet of Omicron2 Eridani, a garden habitable world, and it houses the Mexico-Argentina joint colony of Montana. While Argentina and Mexico originally placed two separate colonies within cooperating distance of each other, the distinctions have long since vanished. The Argentines first settled the continent of Chimborazo, while the Mexicans settled West Island, the largest of the 3 main islands of the planet. Omicron2 Eridani is part of the Latin systems.
- The Foundation Series, novels by Isaac Asimov. 61 Cygni has one of the planets where the human race might have originated, mentioned by the Imperial politician Lord Dorwin.
- Time and Again (1951), novel by Clifford D. Simak. 61 Cygni is a mysterious system whose planets are impossible to approach.
- Mission of Gravity, novel, and other stories (1953-) by Hal Clement. 61 Cygni A is the sun around which the planet Mesklin revolves.
- Danny Dunn and the Voice from Space (1967), children's book. A modulated radio signal coming from 61 Cygni turns out to be a pictogram from aliens.
- Revelation Space stories (2000-) by Alastair Reynolds. 61 Cygni (or 'Swan') is the sun of the planet Sky's Edge.
- Blake's 7, television program. The region around 61 Cygni is the only area near Earth that has not been surveyed, since it is home to an alien race which is hostile to mankind, going so far as to release a virus on a Federation base via a piece of space debris.
- Earth & Beyond, online role-playing game. 61 Cygni is a system in the outskirts of the universe.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. 61 Cygni has a terraformed planet (named Scott) that is notorious for its harsh, icy environment. Surprisingly, it has a successful tourism industry to go along with its renowned fishing industry. Its pool of tourists is derived from the populations of nearby mining systems, who would never otherwise experience a true outdoor environment where it not for the planet Scott being nearby. 61 Cygni is also a member of the Federation.
- In the 1980s interactive novel Portal, the story begins with the return of a failed 100-year mission to 61 Cygni.
- Absolution Gap, novel by Alastair Reynolds. The 107 Piscium system has a gas giant named Haldora and a habitable moon named Hela, which is colonized by humans in the 27th and 28th centuries.
- Stories by Jack Vance. Achernar appears in fourteen of Vance's stories, most of the time as a reference to the star.[citation needed]
- Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Achernar is the solar system from which originate the nonhuman species called the Ahoggyá, or Knobbed Ones.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Achernar (spelled Achenar) is the capital system of the Empire and is thus the seat of the Emperor.
- Star Trek Original Series Season II episode Wolf in the Fold, where Jack the Ripper-style murders of women occurred in 2156.
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Alnilam (Epsilon Orionis)
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Antares (Alpha Scorpii)
- Dray Prescot series of novels by Kenneth Bulmer. A planet called Kregen orbiting Antares is the setting for this series.
- Star Trek film and television franchise:
- "Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers" (1989), episode of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated television series. The Earth is visited by a family from a fictional planet orbiting Antares. They call themselves "Antarians", and hate violence.
- Earth & Beyond, online role-playing game. Antares is mentioned.
- Master of Orion 2: Battle at Antares, computer game. A conflict occurs between the "Orions" and the Antarans, who come from a planet called Antares.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Hundreds of light-years away from populated space, this uninhabited system will remain unpopulated for the foreseeable future as there are no planets orbiting either star within it.
- Antares trilogy of novels by Michael McCollum (Antares Dawn, Antares Passage, and Antares Victory). A futuristic human society, built on interstellar travel via wormholes, is disrupted when Antares becomes a supernova.
- Last Son of Krypton (1978 novel). In this treatment of the Superman mythos, the planet Krypton (comics) revolves around Antares.
- A Voyage to Arcturus (1920), novel by David Lindsay. Arcturus is an inhabited binary system.
- In the 1964 alternate history timeline depicted in Fredric Brown's "What Mad Universe", human beings are engaged in a total war with the Arcturians, whose form is never precisely described and who seek to conquer Earth and the Solar Systen and exterminate all beings other than themselves. Humans use for them the pejorative term "Arcs", modeled on "Japs" for Japanese.
- The Foundation Series, novels by Isaac Asimov. Arcturus is the capital of the Sirius Sector in the Galactic Empire.
- Alien From Arcturus (1956), expanded as Arcturus Landing (1978), is a science fiction novel written by Gordon R. Dickson describing an attempt to build a form of faster-than-light (FTL) propulsion.
- In the Doctor Who serial "The Curse of Peladon" (1972), Mars and Arcturus are depicted as old enemies.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) series by Douglas Adams. The "Arcturan Megadonkey", "Arcturan Megafreighter" and other things with similar names presumably originate on a planet orbiting Arcturus. See Places in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Arcturus for more information.
- Marvel comics. The Arcturan system is binary and has at least four planets. It is inhabited by the Fortisquian alien species.
- Aliens (1986), film. Arcturus is a planet the space marines visited for a furlough.
- Spaced Invaders (1990), comic film. The Martians are fighting a war with the "Arcturians", from the Arcturus system.
- GDW's 2300 AD, role-playing game. Arcturus is the location of Station Arcture, a human research station invaded by the alien race of Kafers. In the module 'Mission Arcturus', players are bound to retake the station from the Aliens.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. A Federation member, this system was colonized in 2304. The system's habitable planet, Discovery, had its flora and fauna replaced with specimens imported from Earth around the same time period. Aside from the local belief that the red giant star will remain stable until the end of time, Arcturus is more infamous as being the home system of the deadly (and exceedingly popular) narcotic known as "Arcturan Megaweed".
- As part of his act, stand-up comic Bill Hicks often stated that he'd been visited by aliens from Arcturus while under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs.
- Escape Velocity Nova, computer game by Ambrosia Software. The Arcturus System is a remote but well-travelled Federation system whose main income is from mining on the planet Fermia. It also features prominently in one of the minor mission strings.
- "Mass Effect", Xbox 360 game. Included in its backstory are details on Arcturus Station in the system of the same name; it acts as the hub of several mass relays and is one relay-jump from Earth and Sol.
- The Legion of Space (1934), novel by Jack Williamson. Barnard's Star is home to the ancient and dreadful race of the Medusae.
- The Black Corridor (1969), novel by Michael Moorcock. Barnard's Star is the destination for a group of people fleeing from social breakdown on Earth.
- Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD (1978), a Terran Trade Authority book by Stewart Cowley. A fictional planet near Barnard's Star is the location of a mysterious apparition that takes the form of an unidentified spacecraft.
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979), novel by Douglas Adams. Barnard's Star is a way station for interstellar travelers.
- In the novelization for Galactica Discovers Earth by Michael Resnick, the child prodigy named Dr. Zee conjectures that the Cylons are located at Barnard's Star, awaiting the Galacticans' arrival at the Earth, before making their final strike.[4]
- The star was a favorite of Robert L. Forward who featured it in several books. In The Flight of the Dragonfly (1984), rewritten as Rocheworld (1990), the Barnard's Star system contains one gas giant planet called "Gargantua" and a binary rocky planet system called "Rocheworld". Rocheworld included a dry rocky world named "Roche" and an ocean covered world named "Eau." The first manned interstellar mission is sent to Barnard's Star using a ship with a huge solar sail propelled by a laser. See Beamed propulsion. In Timemaster (Tor Books:1992), a billionaire makes a six year journey to the star system to open a wormhole in 2049. In Marooned on Eden, co-written in 1993 with his wife Margaret, the starship Prometheus takes a crew on a 40 year mission to Zuni, an inhabitable moon around Rocheworld's neighbor, Gargantua.
- Will Eisner's 1983 graphic novel, Life On Another Planet [5] depicts the reaction of the people of Earth after a signal is detected from intelligent beings on a planet orbiting Barnard's Star.
- Hyperion (1989-1997), novels by Dan Simmons. Barnard's Star had a farm-like habitable planet called Barnard's World which was the homeworld of Rachel and Sol Weintraub, the latter being one of the seven Hyperion pilgrims depicted in the first two books.
- The Garden of Rama (1991), novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. There is a way station at Barnard's Star for the arrival and departure of massive cylindrical world ships.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Barnard's Star is an important Federation industrial system with heavy mining and refining industry close to Earth and the other Core Systems. It proved to be the ideal beginners trading place-no pirates and high profits, exporting robots or computers to Sol and importing Luxury Goods from there could make you a millionaire in no time at all.
- In GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars, Barnard's Star is the first interstellar destination for Terran-made jump ships, who found a colony of humans from the Vilani Imperium on arrival.
- In the 1988 Walt Disney miniseries Earth Star Voyager, Barnard's Star (and its planet Demeter) was the destination point of the Earth Star Voyager. With the faster-than-light propulsion unit known as the Balman Drive, the round trip to the star and back was a 26-year voyage (factoring in a one-year exploration period of Demeter).
- SpaceWreck: Ghost Ships and Derelicts of Space (1979), a Terran Trade Authority book by Stewart Cowley. Beta Aquilae goes by its other name, Alshain, in the story "The Warworld of Alshain". The story is set on the fictional world named Alshain IV, a dying world, home to a once technological race, now reduced to cannibalistic savages living in the wreckage of their once great civilization.
- FreeSpace 2, computer game. The Beta Aquilae system is the location of the Beta Aquilae Convention (BETAC) that established the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Eye of the Beholder" has set artwork in the form of computer screen graphics that establish planet Beta Aquilae II as Federation territory in the 24th century, home to a human population and a Starfleet training installation.
- Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters, computer game. The fourth planet in the system is a gas giant, home to a sentient species of incandescent gas bags called the Slylandro. They call their planet Source, and they live within a narrow band of the planet's atmosphere that they find habitable. Star Control II however used names of real constellations and stars for fictional stars, Beta Corvi in Star Control II is a green dwarf in the game instead of a yellow bright giant.
- Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein mentions, in passing, Beta Corvi III as a planet where the inhabitants are humanoid[6].
- Stellvia of the Universe, anime series. The star Hydrus Beta is loosely based on Beta Hydri.
- A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr. A planet of Beta Hydri is colonized by humanity in the far future and is mentioned briefly in the last third of the novel, Fiat Voluntas Tua, chapter 26.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Beta Hydri is controlled by the Federation. It has two Earth-like planets (one of which is a terraformed world) and several billion people in residence. It is close to Imperial space and is thus a popular port to find the riskier Federal missions that involve incursions into the Empire. In First Encounters, Beta Hydri is involved in two hand-coded missions that occur early in the game.
- Daughters of Earth by Judith Merrill (Doubleday, 1969) has a crew of 500 on the starship Newhope colonizing the second planet, Uller, in 2091 after a 43-year voyage.
- Uller Uprising, novel by H. Beam Piper (Twayne, 1952). Uller, a colonized planet with silicon-based life forms, is in the Beta Hydri system.
- Time for the Stars by Robert Heinlein (Scribner's, 1956). Beta Hydri is one of the stars explored during the journey with the torchship Lewis and Clark.
- Star Trek film and television franchise. In The Worlds of the Federation reference book, Beta Tauri is the parent star of Taurus II, the planet near the Murasaki 312 effect that is home to the Taurean anthropoids. A fictional starship was named for this star's traditional name (USS El Nath) by the Federation, according to the Star Fleet Technical Manual and the novel Time for Yesterday.
- El Nath is the name of a town in the online game MapleStory.
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Canopus (Alpha Carinae)
- Dune and other novels in the Dune universe by Frank Herbert. The planet Dune, also called Arrakis, is the third planet from Canopus.
- Star Kings and Return to the Stars, novels by Edmond Hamilton. Canopus is a capital of the Middle Galactical Empire.
- Canopus in Argos novels by Doris Lessing. A civilization of benevolent beings is based in Canopus and plays a part in human history. The main description of the Canopans is found in the novel Shikasta.
- "Where No Man Has Gone Before", episode of Star Trek (TOS) television series. A sonnet called "Nightingale Woman" is written in 1996 by Tarbolde of Canopus. The Enterprise later visited Alpha Carinae in "The Ultimate Computer". A series of fictional starships was named for this star's traditional name (USS Canopus) by the Federation, according to the Star Fleet Technical Manual and later novels. Alpha Carinae II - Class-M planet on which Dr. Daystrom's M-5 computer was tested in 2268.[23] Alpha Carinae V - The home planet of the Drella, an entity that absorbs energy from the feelings of love it senses around it "(Wolf in the Fold)"
- "The Kidnappers" (1967), episode of The Time Tunnel television series. The time travelers are transported to a planet orbiting Canopus to rescue Dr. Ann MacGregor, whose abductor left behind a metallic computer card that would provide the coordinates.
- BattleTech wargame and related products. The Magistracy of Canopus is an interstellar government.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Canopus has a few colonies dedicated to mining in both Frontier games. Interestingly, two minor planets (both moons of a gas giant and a brown dwarf, respectively) both share the same name of Camp Lawrence.
Capella (Alpha Aurigae)
- Starship Troopers, novel by Robert A. Heinlein. The distance from Sol to Capella is used to illustrate the speed at which Navy ships under the "Cherenkov Drive" travel.
- Marvel comic books. The alien Badoon are natives of Capella II.
- "Friday's Child", episode of Star Trek (TOS) television series. Action takes place on Capella IV.
- FreeSpace 2, computer game. Capella is one of the core systems of the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance and is home to over 300 million Terrans. It is invaded by Shivan forces, and the star itself is destroyed.
- Earth & Beyond, online role-playing game. Capella is mentioned.
- BattleTech, wargame and related products. Capella is formerly the governing system for the Capellan Confederation Successor State.
- The Listeners, novel by James Gunn. The novel circulates around a radio message received from Capella.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Capella has many moon-based colonies and space stations orbiting the brown dwarf nearest to the primary star itself. Despite having several starports, this system has a population of less than 10,000 people.
- Capella's Golden Eyes, first novel (1980) by Welsh author Christopher Evans. Human colonists deal with mysterious indigenous aliens.
- Escape Velocity, computer game by Ambrosia Software. The Capella System is a fairly major trade hub in the northeastern Confederation.
- Cabal Online online role-playing game. Capella is one of the Seven Great sages of that game. She is the main Sage of Continent Pastur. After the dissolvement of the Tower of Sages, she creates her own faction and goes against Procyon, which ironically and surprisingly is another non-fictional star.
- Dune (1965), novel by Frank Herbert. The planet Caladan is the third world of the Delta Pavonis system.
- Revelation Space (2000), novel by Alastair Reynolds. The planet Resurgam and the neutron star Hades are part of the Delta Pavonis system.
- The novelette "Sundowner Sheila" by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre (published in Interzone 202, February 2006) takes place on Terra Nova, a planet orbiting Delta Pavonis in synchronous rotation with almost no libration, so that one hemisphere of the planet is in perpetual darkness, and the other hemisphere (known as Nevernight) is in perpetual daylight. "Sundowner Sheila" is narrated by a synthetic human who is assigned to a longitude on Terra Nova where Delta Pavonis is permanently at zenith, so that the sun is always directly overhead and the time of day is always noon.
- Transformers (1983) animated television series, -The Big Broadcast of 2006- episode. Delta Pavonis IV is the home of a race of humanoid cats. A malfunctioning hypnotic Quintesson signal drives the cats to attack a neighbouring planet of humanoid dogs.
- In Frederick Pohl's The Voices of Heaven, the protagonist, Barry Di Hoa is frozen and sent aboard a colony ship to the planet Pava in the Delta Pavonis star system.
- Desmond Ravenstone's Atraxa trilogy is based on the second planet orbiting Delta Pavonis, called "Terranova" by the Atraxa and "New Earth" by the Kerem.
- Into the Sea of Stars (Ballantine Books, 1969) by William R. Fortschen. Colonial Unit 122, populated entirely by women and sustained with a supply of sperm purged of the Y chromosome, begins a voyage to this system in 2053 and is still enroute a thousand years later.
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- Worldwar novels by Harry Turtledove. Epsilon Indi is one of the subject systems ("Halless") of The Race. Halless also refers to the native planet, Halless, of the Hallesi, one of the two subject species (excluding Humans).
- Known Space novels and stories by Larry Niven. Home, the most Earthlike planet among the human colony worlds, orbited Epsilon Indi.
- Star Trek film and television franchise:
- Space: Above and Beyond, television series. The Epsilon Indi system is the site of the Tellus colony.
- "Halo (series)", video games. In the Halo expanded universe the planet Harvest, the first world attacked by the Covenant, is in the Epsilon Indi system.
- Full Thrust, miniatures war game by Ground Zero Games. Epsilon Indi is one of the three systems of New Israel.
Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini)
- The House on Curwen Street (1944), by August Derleth and other stories of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Fomalhaut is the home of the god Cthugha.
- The Forever War, novel by Joe Haldeman. Fomalhaut is the name of a planet near a collapsar.
- Rocannon's World, novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. Rokanan is the second planet of Fomalhaut. Rokanan was Rocannon's name among the native Gdemiar.
- Childe Cycle novels by Gordon R. Dickson. Fomalhaut 3 is the homeworld of the Dorsai.
- Return from the Stars, novel by Stanislaw Lem. The protagonist astronaut Hal Bregg returns to Earth from an expedition to the Fomalhaut system.
- The Unteleported Man (later republished as Lies, Inc.), novel by Philip K. Dick. Whale's Mouth is a colony located in the Fomalhaut system.
- Radio Free Albemuth, novel by Philip K. Dick. Fomalhaut is the origin of an alien satellite.
- Pebble in the Sky, novel by Isaac Asimov. Fomalhaut is referred to as being the star system of a group of humans who speak with a pronounced accent.
- FTL:2448, role-playing game by Tri Tac Games. Fomalhaut is the location of a major space station, Alverez Station, orbiting the planet America (Fomalhaut V).
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Fomalhaut is home to a terraformed agricultural colony that grows grain and exports them to other systems for a profit. To prevent pollution, manufacturing is forbidden.
- The Steps of the Sun (Doubleday 1982), by Walter Tevis has a starship travel to the uranium-rich FBR 793 to solve Earth's energy problems in 2062
- The War Games of Zelos (Fawcett Books, 1975) by Richard Avery. Zelos is the fifth planet, colonized in 2078
- Escape Velocity Nova, computer game by Ambrosia Software. The Fomalhaut System is a minor trade hub featuring the inhabited worlds Gem and Snowmelt.
- In Battlelords of the Twenty-Third Century, Fomalhaut is the home star system for an alien race known as the Chatlian.
- In the 2001 Particle Systems game Independence War 2: Edge of Chaos, Fomalhaut has been colonized by humans and is the first accessible star system in the Gagarin cluster, by virtue of possessing a jump accelerator linked to Santa Romera in the Badlands cluster. It is also, therefore, the best-defended and last to fall against the alien invasion.
- A written Star Trek story entitled The Truth Machine features the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise led by Captain James Kirk encountering the armies of Fomalhaut V, who seeks the secret of Warp Drive in an effort to conquer the universe, after being tricked into beaming down to the surface of the planet.
- In Children of Dune, near the end, Leto muses briefly about Fomalhaut while marveling at various ancient kernels of wisdom he recalls easily yet are lost to all but the inherited ancestor lives retained in his memory, as he moves about peering through narrow windows in time-space.
- Space: Above and Beyond, television series. Groombridge 34 is the location of the largest extrasolar USMC fleet base, and is the expected target of the chigs in the pilot episode (though this intelligence is later revealed to be incorrect). It is also the location of the first part of the episode "Mutiny".
- Macross Plus, OVA anime television series and compilation film. Groombridge 34 is a possible location of the fictitious "Groombridge 1816" (Helios) system, stated to be 11.7 light years[7] from the Solar System, about the same distance as Groombridge 34 (11.62 ly). Planet Eden, located within the Groombridge 1816 system, is the location of the New Edwards Test Flight Center [8] and its major city, Eden City. The name Groombridge 1816 may be an alteration of the name of the real star Groombridge 1618.
- Halo computer game series. The Groombridge 34 system is the site of a decommissioned construction platform. In 2531, a group of Spartan-IIs are sent to investigate rebel activity at the platform.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. This crowded system has three stars, multiple gas giants and numerous planets. It is also heavily developed, with multiple colonies and space stations present within the system.
- Mindbridge (St. Martin's Press, 1978), novel by Joe Haldeman. A planet orbiting Groombridge 1618 serves as the homeworld for the psi-amplifying "Groombridge Bridge" and the L'Vrai race, and is reached by the faster than light system, the "Levant-Meyer Translation"
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. Groombridge 1618 is uninhabited in the Frontier series.
- Revelation Space, novel by Alastair Reynolds. The planet Turqoise, a Pattern Juggler world, orbits Groombridge 1618.
- Calculating God, novel by Robert J. Sawyer. Beings from a planet orbiting Groombridge 1618 send a starship to make Betelgeuse go supernova, an event which threatens the death of humanity, as well as the Wreeds and Forhilnors, two races that had recently contacted humanity.
- Iota Cycle, novel by Russell Lutz. Iota Horologii is a setting for colonization and terraforming. It has six planets, the second, Asia, being Iota Horologii b. The planets are named after the continents of Earth, in order from closest to the star: Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, America, and Antarctica.
- Outre Mer, novel by Michael Puttré. The earthlike moon Outre Mer orbits the gas giant Adonis, the second planet of Iota Horologii. It is populated by human refugees, descendants of adbuctees taken by the Greys, inhabitants of the systems of Zeta Reticuli. The world is also the home of the Duranni, an intelligent aboriginal species.
- Halo video game series. In the series, Soell is the traditional name given to Iota Horologii, the star that Threshold, Basis and Installation 04 orbit.
- Star Light, novel by Hal Clement. The planet Dhrawn orbits Lalande 21185.
- Rogue Queen (1951), novel by L. Sprague de Camp. Lalande 21185 is the sun of the planet Ormazd.
- Lalande 21185 (1966), novel by Janusz A. Zajdel.
- Across the Sea of Suns (1983), novel by Gregory Benford. Lalande 21185 is renamed Ra, and has one tide-locked terrestrial planet Isis.
- Revelation Space stories by Alastair Reynolds. The planet Zion orbits Lalande 21185.
- Star Corps (2006), novel by Ian Douglas. One of Lalande 21185's gas giants has an Earth-like moon where an alien race holds humans in slavery, resulting in a force of US Marines being sent in 2148 to free them.
- Civilization II: Test of Time, computer game. One scenario involves colonizing the Lalande 21185 system.
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. In this series, Lalande 21185 is dedicated to heavy industry. With a colony based on the innermost planet of the system and a space station orbiting said planet, this industry-based system is more developed than most.
- Timemaster by Robert L. Forward has three astronauts creating a wormhole by voyaging there between 2043 and 2052
- Escape Velocity Nova, computer game by Ambrosia Software. Lalande 21185 is an important crossroads, and features the minor planet Diva.
Mintaka (Delta Orionis)
- "Who Watches the Watchers", episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. Mintaka III is a planet inhabited by Mintakans, a Vulcan-like race at a pre-industrial level of development under observation by Federation personnel. After the events in this episode, a tapestry provided by the Mintakans to Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise-D would be seen adorning the chair in his office or quarters.
- Red Shift, novel by Alan Garner. The lead characters are fixated on Orion in general and Mintaka in particular.
Mira (Omicron Ceti)
- A Relic of the Empire, short story by Larry Niven. Pirates raiding Puppeteer ships hide on a planet orbiting Mira Ceti.
- Star Trek film and television franchise:
- "This Side of Paradise", episode of Star Trek (TOS) television series. The Enterprise arrives at Omicron Ceti III, the site of a colony established years earlier but whose inhabitants were believed killed by radiation. Upon visiting the planet, the Enterprirse crew is surprised to find the original colonists alive and behaving somewhat oddly.
- "Conspiracy", episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. The Enterprise secretly meets three other Federation starships above Dytallix B, the fifth planet in orbit of Mira and one of seven once mined for the Federation by the Dytallix Mining Company. It is a tidally locked planet long deserted. On its surface, Capt. Picard meets with the captains of the three other starships to discuss suspicions of a possible conspiracy and infiltration of Starfleet Command. In the same episode, Lt. Cmdr. Data names the "red giant known as Mira" but an on-screen graphic identifies this system as the fictional Mira Antlia, perhaps to distinguish it from the Omicron Ceti system mentioned in the original series.
Mizar (Zeta Ursae Majoris)
- Enigma and Empery (books 2 and 3 of the Trigon Disunity series of novels) by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. The Mizar system is home to powerful and xenophobic aliens.
- The Demon Princes series of novels by Jack Vance. Mizar has at least two inhabited planets and at least six in total.
- The Heart of a Star, issue 3 of The Sandman: Endless Nights comic book. Mizar appears as an anthropomorphic star, a female made of blue flame. Mizar serves as the host of an assembly of various cosmic entities, and as the creator of the palace where they meet; she is described as having "power to spare".
- "Allegiance", episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. Mizar II is the home planet of the pacifistic green humanoid Mizarians.
- BattleTech wargame and related products. Mizar hosts a habitable planet noted for its luxurious resorts and vain inhabitants.
- The Daedalus Encounter, video game. Takes place on Mizar[citation needed].
- "Sign In Stranger", song in The Royal Scam album by Steely Dan. Contains the lyric, "Have you heard about the boom on Mizar Five- / People got to shout to stay alive"
- Frontier: Elite II and Frontier: First Encounters, computer games. The Mizar system has no permanent habitations - settlement would be nearly impossible here anyway, as the system simply consists of two stars in binary orbit.
- Way Station by Clifford Simak. A mathematical model developed on Mizar is mentioned early in the book, the main character of which is a human caretaker of a secret alien "bus stop" in Wisconsin.
- Tékumel, books and games by M. A. R. Barker. Nu Ophiuchi is the sun (Tuleng) for the system which includes the planet Tékumel.
- "11001001", Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. The USS Enterprise was delayed at Omicron Persei before reaching a Starbase.
- Futurama, animated television series. The Omicronians claim to be from Omicron Persei 8, 1000 light-years from Earth. Living in the 31st century, the Omicronians receive and are fans of 21st-century television broadcasts from Earth.
Phecda (Gamma Ursae Majoris)
Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris)
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