The Equestrian Solar System

[Octavia Heartstrings 28,397]

These drawings are pretty different from the drawings I usually do. A while ago, I created my own headcanon of the planets in the Equestrian Solar System. Over the past week, I've used the new sketchbook and colored pencils I got for my birthday to draw each planet in the system. I hope you enjoy!

 

I think I'd better start this off by explaining that The Sun at the center of the system is a yellow G4V star, about the same size as our Sun. Princess Celestia doesn't actually raise it, that's just propaganda and illusionary magic.

 

The first three planets are small rocky planets orbiting close to the sun. The first two are Mercury-sized planets named Ultus and Jalis, and the third is a heavily cratered Mars-sized planet named Kovestum, which has 2 moons.

 

Renaia is the Earth-like world on which Equestria is located. It's the only planet in this system to support life. Some people have used Equestria as the name of the planet itself, but I chose to give the planet its own name, with Equestria being the name of the dominant empire on it. It has 1 moon, which Princess Luna does not actually raise. Again, that's just propaganda and illusionary magic.

Wistrol is a large terrestrial planet, almost twice the size of Renaia, with a hazy atmosphere full of toxic gases. It also has a ring around it, and features prominently in Equestrian mythology and history. It has 5 moons.

 

Now onto the giant planets. Doukall is by far the largest planet in the system, a huge super-Jovian gas giant that is more than three times as massive as all other planets in the system combined. It was the most distant planet known to the ancient Equestrians. It has 57 known moons.

 

Merlanos is the second gas giant in the system. Slightly smaller than Saturn, it glows bright green in the night sky and has several rings around it. It has 39 known moons.

 

Ferlatta is a white ice giant with a faint ring system, the most distant planet visible to the naked eye from Renaia. Much like Uranus, it has quite a large axial tilt. It has 17 known moons.

 

Olyria is the most beautiful planet in the system, a bright blue ice giant with glowing yellow rings around it. It's unknown what makes its rings glow so brightly, but it's a joy to behold for anypony lucky enough to see it with a telescope. It's the largest of the ice giants, and has 23 known moons.

 

Seforia is a deep purple ice giant with no visible ring system, and storms raging all over its surface. For a long time, it was believed to the be the last frontier of the Equestrian solar system. It's the smallest of the ice giants, and has 14 known moons.

 

Beyond Seforia, things start to get a little weird. There is a large circumstellar disc of small icy objects, with extreme elliptical orbits averaging 2-5 times as far from the sun as Seforia. Of these objects, Axtum is the only one large enough to be considered a major planet. Notable dwarf planets in this disc include Corlis, Sienas, Wakefield and the egg-shaped Newmare.

 

Unknown to anypony until recently, there is a fourth ice giant orbiting at the furthest edge of the Equestrian solar system. Named Zylonda, its gravitational effects distort the orbits of Axtum and the dwarfs. It's a dark world shrouded in mystery, and its existence is more or less all that's known about it.

Edited October 31, 2020 by LyraLover 💚

[Props Valroa 25,971]

@LyraLover 💚

I love the names of the dwarf planets! It is quite amazing work you have done and I am glad that I inspired you! The dwarf planet's names are my favorite. 

[Octavia Heartstrings 28,397]

1 minute ago, TheDonald said:

@LyraLover 💚

I love the names of the dwarf planets! It is quite amazing work you have done and I am glad that I inspired you! The dwarf planet's names are my favorite. 

Thank you so much, my friend! I'm really proud of how these drawings came out, and I'm glad you like them too!

[Props Valroa 25,971]

Just now, LyraLover 💚 said:

Thank you so much, my friend! I'm really proud of how these drawings came out, and I'm glad you like them too!

Very nice surprise for Halloween I must say and no problem.

[TotallyNotNyx 15,563]

I love how this solar system is really similar to our own. In fact had something been slightly different in the formation of our solar system, this may have been the result.

I also love how you have that ice giant much further out like the proposed "Nemesis" in our own solar system.

Quick question "Why a G4V star?" in particular?

 

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by TotallyNotNyx

[Octavia Heartstrings 28,397]

31 minutes ago, TotallyNotNyx said:

I love how this solar system is really similar to our own. In fact had something been slightly different in the formation of our solar system, this may have been the result.

I also love how you have that ice giant much further out like the proposed "Nemesis" in our own solar system.

Quick question "Why a G4V star?" in particular?

 

 

Thanks! I made it similar to our solar system, but with a few notable differences, such as more large planets.

Zylonda is inspired by the hypothetical "Planet Nine" that some astronomers believe exists in our solar system.

Both our Sun and the Equestrian Sun are G-type main sequence stars, also called yellow dwarf stars. There are 10 classes of G stars numbered 0 to 9, with G0V stars being the hottest and most massive, and G9V stars being the coldest and least massive. Our Sun is the same mass as a G4V star, but it's classified as a G2V star due to its hotter temperature. I made the Equestrian Sun a normal G4V star so that the sizes would match up.

[TotallyNotNyx 15,563]

14 minutes ago, LyraLover 💚 said:

Thanks! I made it similar to our solar system, but with a few notable differences, such as more large planets.

Zylonda is inspired by the hypothetical "Planet Nine" that some astronomers believe exists in our solar system.

Both our Sun and the Equestrian Sun are G-type main sequence stars, also called yellow dwarf stars. There are 10 classes of G stars numbered 0 to 9, with G0V stars being the hottest and most massive, and G9V stars being the coldest and least massive. Our Sun is the same mass as a G4V star, but it's classified as a G2V star due to its hotter temperature. I made the Equestrian Sun a normal G4V star so that the sizes would match up.

Ah makes sense. If I recall correctly, the 0-9 system doesn't really take mass into account, just surface temperature, so stars of the same sizes do commonly have slightly different classifications.

All in all, this is great. I look forwards to maybe hearing backstories of how planets formed in the way they did, or maybe information on habitable life?

[Octavia Heartstrings 28,397]

11 minutes ago, TotallyNotNyx said:

Ah makes sense. If I recall correctly, the 0-9 system doesn't really take mass into account, just surface temperature, so stars of the same sizes do commonly have slightly different classifications.

All in all, this is great. I look forwards to maybe hearing backstories of how planets formed in the way they did, or maybe information on habitable life?

Probably true, though more massive stars do usually have higher temperatures.

I'm rather busy IRL at the moment, but I can definitely do something like that in the future!

[Splashee 28,537]

Being able to come up with designs like these require not only skill but crazy imagination! Great job @LyraLover 💚

[Gearspark 10]

I can see that many of these have latin influences to their naming,  but  how exactly did you go about naming all of these, and what was your reasoning for the names?