Ophion: the captured gas giant of Helios Gamma
Ophion was a large, frigid gas giant orbiting the star Helios Gamma in the Cyrannus Star System. Studies suggested it was a rogue planet captured by the system, an event that also shifted Ragnar into its present orbit.
Ophion was a large gas giant orbiting the star Helios Gamma in the Cyrannus Star System. A frigid world set in an inclined orbit, it measured roughly 51,000 kilometers in diameter, slightly larger than the gas giant Hestia. (Battlestar Galactica Map of the 12 Colonies)
Description#
Ophion was a frigid gas giant in an inclined orbit around Helios Gamma. It was 51,000 kilometers in diameter, slightly larger than Hestia. In addition to its three groups of rings, Ophion had fourteen moons, all of them smaller than ten kilometers in diameter. (Battlestar Galactica Map of the 12 Colonies)
Origin#
Isotope studies showed that Ragnar was originally a member of the Helios Gamma system, while Ophion was not. Ophion was likely a rogue planet that passed close to Ragnar, and their gravitational interaction caused Ophion to be captured by Helios Gamma, while Ragnar was moved into its current orbit around both Helios Gamma and Helios Delta. Ophion never appears on screen; these details come from the official map of the Colonies, which the show's writers treated as quasi-canon. (Battlestar Galactica Map of the 12 Colonies)
Frequently asked questions
- What was Ophion?
- Ophion was a large gas giant orbiting the star Helios Gamma in the Cyrannus Star System. A frigid world in an inclined orbit, it was roughly 51,000 kilometers in diameter, slightly larger than Hestia.
- How many moons did Ophion have?
- In addition to its three groups of rings, Ophion had fourteen moons, all of them smaller than ten kilometers in diameter.
- How did Ophion come to orbit Helios Gamma?
- Isotope studies showed that Ophion was not originally a member of the Helios Gamma system. It was likely a rogue planet that passed close to Ragnar, and their gravitational interaction caused Ophion to be captured by Helios Gamma while Ragnar, which had originally belonged to the system, was moved into its current orbit.
Sources
- BookBattlestar Galactica Map of the 12 Colonies, Official poster map, Quantum Mechanix, designed by Geoffrey Mandel with Jane Espenson and Kevin Grazier (quasi-canon)
Spotted a factual error or a primary source we missed? Email a correction. Every flagged claim gets reviewed.
Followed from this entry
Ragnar
Ragnar was a gas giant in the Cyrannus Star System whose hydrocarbons drove the economies of Canceron and Aerilon. It saw a costly battle early in the Cylon War and later hosted the surplus depot of Ragnar Anchorage.
Cyrannus: the Colonies' four suns
Four stars in a double binary, Helios Alpha through Delta, holding all Twelve Colonies. Refugees from Kobol settled them two thousand years back.
Hestia
Hestia was a gas giant orbiting the star Helios Delta in the Cyrannus star system. At only 47,000 kilometers in diameter it was the smallest gas giant in the Four Systems, and it held seventeen moons.
Also in Reimagined Series
The red moon: where Starbuck was shot down and flew a Raider home
The red moon is a lifeless, waterless world orbiting a gas giant many jumps from the Twelve Colonies. Weeks after the Fall, Kara Thrace ejected into its frozen carbon dioxide atmosphere, then got off it by gutting the Cylon Raider she had shot down and flying it back into space.
Aerilon
Aerilon was an agricultural world and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Known as the food basket of the Colonies, it was a poor, working-class farming world and the birthplace of Gaius Baltar.
Aquaria
Aquaria was a cold, sparsely populated ocean world and one of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol. Official guides describe it as a former research outpost that grew into a frontier colony governed by direct democracy.
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