Verant

Verant
An image of the surface of Verant.
Aliases
The World, the Globe, Verrántacelishta, Amos
Orbital characteristics
Semi-major Axis	0.93887 AU
Eccentricity	0.0167
Perihelion	0.916 AU
Aphelion	0.947 AU
Orbital period	340 days
Natural satellites	2 (Alderhan and Tarohan)
Physical characteristics
Mean radius	6058.55 km
Mean density	5.950 g/cm3
Rotation period	24 h
Axial tilt	24.972°
Albedo	0.301 (Bond) 0.358 (geometric)
Surface temperature	286.55 K (13.4 °C)
Atmosphere
Atmospheric pressure	2.3 atm (232.99 kPa)
Atmospheric density	2.835 kg/m3

Verant is the second planet of its solar system. It's a water world with substantial amounts of liquid water as part of its hydrosphere. The land in Verant is part of its crust, which consists of slow moving tectonic plates that interact to form mountain ranges. Of the three rocky planets of the solar system, Verant is the second most massive. It's located about eight light-minutes away from its sun, orbiting at a rate of 340 days per revolution. It rotates in 24 hours, in a rotation axis that is slightly tilted with respect to its perpendicular plane, which causes seasonal periods of cold and warm weathers.

Verant itself is orbited by two permanent natural satellites: Alderhan and Tarohan. Both of these moons are tidally locked to Verant, which results in them always facing Verant, and complicated tide patterns.

Etymology

The term for 'Verant' is relatively homogenous between modern languages, in particular those with Tescano roots. It sprouts from Verrántacejlishta, the Tescano term for the religious concept of Celis as a place. In itself, Verrántacelishta is a noun constructed with the root for Duverrántajlea, which is often used to denote home or place of belonging.

Natural satellites

Verant is orbited by two gravitationally bound objects, Alderhan and Tarohan. The leading theory for their formation states that Verant must have collided with a protoplanet. The remaining shards relaxed into spherical bodies with time. While the collision theory is popular, it's still debated whether both moons appeared from the same event, or if Alderhan might have collided with another body thus causing the formation of Tarohan.

The gravitational attraction between Verant and its moons causes tides on the hydrosphere. As they orbit Verant, the sun illuminates them differently, leading to the moon phases.

Alderhan

Alderhan (Ajlderján in Tescano) is a large, rocky, planet-like natural satellite. It orbits Verant at a distance of 357,830km, with a 24-day revolution that marks the passing of months. In iconography and mythology it's often associated with silver and blue. In recent years, the ISI (International Space Institution) successfully carried out the first manned mission to survey Alderhan.

Tarohan

Tarohan or Taroján is an also rocky, planet-like natural satellite, though it is smaller to Alderhan. It orbits Verant at a distance of 146,600km, with a 6-day revolution that marks the passing of weeks. In iconography and mythology it's often associated with gold and red. Due to its nearness to the planet, it's been the focus of space missions prior to the ISI. Before stopping operations, the MESA (Menet Space Agency) had led six missions that successfully landed in Tarohan.