Derophus

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Pronunciation: Dare - oh - fiss

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"Titan of Sand"

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from the Universe Sandbox 2 variant of Antarius System

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Date of Discovery: Sol 89.2072

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Class:

Cool Lacustrine Sub-Aquaria

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General Statistics:

Earth Masses: 0.0393 mE

Radii in km: 2363km

Density per cubic centimeter: 4.25 g/cm^3

Average Temperature: 198-236K

Age: 3.074 billion years

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Atmospheric Statistics:

Atmosphere Composition:

78.46% Nitrogen

16.523% Argon

2.30184% Xenon

1.72% Methane

0.99516% Trace Gases [Propane, Ethane, Carbon Monoxide, etc]

Surface Air Pressure: 83.7659kPa [0.838atm]

Atmospheric Density: 1.120 kg/m3 [0.00112 g/cm^3]

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Orbital Statistics:

Orbital Parent: Arkkana

Orbitable Period: 60.5 SED

Semi-Major Axis: 0.0315 Au

Orbital Eccentricity: 0.0012°

Orbital Inclination: 0.0275°

Rotational Period: 8.3901 SED

Axial Tilt: 19.7229°

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11th moon from Arkkana, in between the orbits of Romarius and Joulian

Derophus resembles a lot like the moon of Titan from the Solaris System. It is speculated that such moons are common. The low temperature is due to the weakening core, cooling, causing less activity and ultimately cooling the moon entirely.

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Lore

Derophus has quite the resemblance to Titan. It is indeed to be considered a Titan--the Titan of the Arugan Moons. To recap, Arugan Moons are the set of moons beyond the orbit of Kothran, such moons are smaller, colder, and more desolate since there was less material out there than in there. Derophus is the biggest moon of all the Arugan Moons, hence the title. Its atmosphere is quite thick for a moon of its size, and yet despite that, it is still a true titan of the Arugan Moons.

It's cool is suffering a similar fate to Vortìs, albeit much faster since the tidal forces are weaker and there is not much to slow it down. In the past, Derophus boasted life. Some resembled the towering Aqueous Shards, tall, large structures made of ice. The ice is parasitic up near the north. At sundown, the ice grows 46x times faster than it would during the day. Derophus has small oceans or large lakes made of a solution of hydrogen peroxide, water, and ethane. There are also trace amounts of propane, which can be extracted to fuel conventional Terran technology.

The life is dying on Derophus, and there are barren lands where an expansive area of a fungus-like grass grew. The life on Derophus is silicon-based, which is harder to imagine and more complex. An example would be that the "trees" on Derophus reassemble a lot like the Aqueous Shards. The moon was seeded with life, as another experiment of Hyperant to see how will life develop on desolate worlds. It was proven successful, but over time the core cooled quickly since it was ignited and restarted to make sure the life thrives. Eventually, the alien life took over and grew over the moon for centuries. But since then, the core has been quietly dying. Now the damage is significant and has reached a point of no return.

The moon has a lot of resources and metals on it thanks to it taking up most of the materials during the formation. Unlike the Andrean Sector, the Arugan Sector was calmer in the past, which can also explain why these moons were smaller and were mostly made of nearly one-to-two materials (iron or silicates). Derophus has one submoon, Retissinus. Retissinus, much like Cerratrune or Cherrulan, has a quirky feature to it. It is shaped like a chicken egg and has a small thin ring. Retissinus also has basins and large ice sheets, making it an interestingly cool place to visit, adding to the breathtaking view of Derophus.

In the end, Derophus will truly be the Titan of the Arugan Moons, and forever it shall be.