Aldebaran-4 usually referred to simply as Aldebaran is a planet orbiting the star Aldebaran in the Taurus constellation, 64 light years away from Earth.
Environment[]
Climate[]
Compared to the earth Aldebaran's climate is a lot calmer. Hurricanes and cyclones are unknown on the planet.
Seismic and Volcanic Activity[]
The formation of the planet happened long before that of the earth (6 billion years ago, compared to earths 4.5 billion years ago). Due to this the Aldebaran has half as many active volcanoes as earth, of which 80% are under sea level. Earthquakes are also less frequent and less violent. The biggest one (in Northland, 2125) reached 4 on the Richter scale and caused no damage.
Flora[]
As much in its appearance as in its biological characteristics, the continental flora of Aldebaran is similar to that of Earth. There is only half as many species however, and some notable differences.
For example, on Earth, the prairies are mainly covered with grasses from the Gramineae family, while on Aldebaran moss is everywhere. Pleasant to the touch, moss makes prairies and especially the undergrowth a lot more welcoming than those that are found on earth.
On earth Gramineae doesn't grow in the shade of the forests; in their place grow a multitude of shrubs, ferns, and creepers that make the Earth's forest undergrowth nearly inextricable and very inhospitable for people. On Aldebaran moss invades the unlit forest soils, which in general prevents the growth of any other kind of vegetation.
Fauna[]
Contrary to the flora, the fauna of Earth and Aldebaran hardly resembles one another. First, Aldebaran's continental fauna is less diverse than the Earth's, with there being nearly 10 times fewer animal species in the forests and prairies, with a clear predominance of herbivores.
Aldebaran has no carnivorous family that corresponds to Earth's felines. Aldebarans animals are in general, smaller and less intelligent than their counterparts on earth. As a result the fauna is a lot less dangerous for humanity than that found on Earth. With the exception, of course, of the fauna in the in the marshland regions, which are very unusual and remote. These areas hold dangerous species that have no equivalent on the blue planet.
As should be expected, in the immense Aldebaran ocean is where most of the planets animal species are held. The planets marine fauna is five times more diverse than the Earths. The ocean is bigger than all of the earths oceans put together, but the marine animals are also capable of living at very great depths. It's also in the sea, especially very far from the coast, that the most dangerous predators on Aldebaran are to be found.
At the start of the colonization , the pioneers made huge efforts to record and classify the planets fauna. This classification forms the basis of the Aldebaran catalog of animal species" that is still used today. Unfortunately this task has had to be interrupted before its completion.
Geography[]
History[]
It was the first extra-solar planet discovered by humanity outside of the solar system, in January 2047 by the unmanned space probe Galileo Galilei. Such a voyage was only possibly by the use of techniques perfected 10 years previously, allowing the probe to break the speed of light!