Corona (Iota Piscium I )

Corona (Iota Piscium I , former capital of the Taurus Nexus

Corona
Corona; the green colour is caused by ionised oxygen in the terraformed planet's atmosphere


Corona Data panel

Planet:Iota Piscium I

Primary: Iota Piscium, called Iota

Stellar Type: F7v

Region: Inner Sphere, 45 light years from Sol

Planets: 3 terrestrial worlds, 2 small giants, 14 large ice objects; thirty two Bishop rings, many other habitats
AIAI overseers: the Academy Minds, an informal grouping of 2nd toposophic individuals

AI's ethos: various
PolitySymbol: glowing crown

Affiliation: NoCoZo

Colonized: 1465 (Jupiter Transystems)
Psyche, Art, CultureMetapsychology: Academic Meritocracy

Metaethics: Falsificationism

Religion/Ideology: various, Solarism being the major religion on Baryon, the largest continent

Culture and Art: Pragmatism, Ubuism

Language: Coronese (various dialects), New Anglish and Douh are also widely spoken
Corona map
Corona Symbol
Image from Anders Sandberg
Territory and PopulationPopulation: 67 billion (surface and orbitals)

Population breakdown: 19 billion humans (mainly tweaks and cyborgs, with a large baseline minority.)
15 billion active free virtuals
12 billion turingrade and above, ai
8 billion vecs
6 billion splices
5 billion provolves
2 billion other
Government and AdministrationGovernment Type AI-mediated cyberdemocracy.

Administrative divisions: Corona itself is divided into 5
Economics, Local InfrastructureCurrency: the Tera, an information processing equivalent

Major Industries: nanofacture, infotech, didaxy

Major Stargates: macroscale stargates to Merrion, Fons Luminis, Tau Ceti,

Military expenditures: minimal
Interstellar Trade and Treaty RelationsMain trading partners : most important Old Core Inner Sphere worlds, some of the empires
Interstellar treaty organization participation:Exports: main export is verified and peer reviewed data; the world is a trade nexus for the surrounding systems

Imports - commodities: main imports are sentient and/or slaved systems for local didaxy

Longrunning Interstellar Disputes: None
corona preterraforming
Corona before terraforming was a dry Arean type world, with a few small, dark salty lakes
First reached in 1465 by the Jupiter Transystems but colonised by Taurus Development. The planet was named after the colourful and dramatic corona discharges in the upper atmosphere. TD began a long-range terraforming effort, which resulted in one of the most Earth-like planets in known space. When it opened for full-scale colonisation in 1829 it attracted many who were eager to leave the overcrowded solar system and live an "authentic" life on a planet. After the first wave of colonists came the megacorps, who leased facilities in orbit for further exploration and colonisation efforts.

Corona became the capital of the Taurus Nexus. Being a central wormhole terminal and capital for one of the most expansive empires of the third space rush it grew wealthy and diverse. The local businesses, ethnicities and corporations became increasingly critical of the rigid rulership of the Nexus, and began to push for a merger with the NoCoZo. This led to the 3263 split of the Nexus, which caused the Taurus civil war. Corona was badly damaged, hundreds of millions died and the planet lost much of its importance. It was annexed by the Solar Dominion, but revolted during the Version War. Since then it has been independent, with a brief period 4830-4870 as a neutral host for the ComEmp.

Corona is one of the "classic" systems of the Inner Sphere, an important trade nexus, cultural treasure house and source of media. Many of the ruins from the civil war and Version War remain. The total system population is 19 billion humans (mainly tweaks and cyborgs, although a strong baseline minority lives on the continent Quark).

The academic institutions of Corona are some of the most venerable in the Civilised galaxy. Despite periods of decadence, decline and irrelevance, the Colleges have always recovered, and are currently important centres of independent scholarship, especially in the fields of sophontology, toposophology and godwatching.

Corona 2
Image from Steve Bowers
Corona is named for these colourful and persistent auroras,
caused by interactions between Iota's stellar wind and the planet's strong magnetic field.
(The word Corona is displayed using the Academic script, widely used across the Terragen Sphere)
 
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Appears in Topics
Inner SphereNon-Coercive Zone (NoCoZo)Systems & Worlds C - D
 
Development Notes
Text by Anders Sandberg

Initially published on 12 August 2000.