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List of Firefly planets and moons
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This is a list of fictional planets and moons from the Firefly / Serenity fiction. Characters in the story refer colloquially to these planets as "worlds". During the short television run of the Firefly series, it was not made clear whether the planets and moons depicted were located in one planetary system or many, although creator Joss Whedon and all licensed products, confirmed that there is no faster-than-light travel in the Firefly universe. The opening narration of the film makes it clear that the planets and moons are in one system with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons." This is supported by production documents published in Serenity: The Official Visual Companion. In 2008, a double-sided poster called the Complete and Official Map of the Verse was produced, which depicts the system as consisting of one central star (the "White Sun") orbited by the "core worlds" and several other stars (each of which has its own planetary system). System overview According to The Complete and Official Map of The Verse, the Verse is also known as 34 Tauri (2020), although the real 34 Tauri is not a star, but an object accidentally cataloged as a star by astronomer John Flamsteed in 1690 which was later determined to be the planet Uranus. A PDF file titled The Verse in Numbers, accompanying the map on its official website, and from which the map is based, states that in 2020 Earth astronomers discover that 34 Tauri, up until that time thought to be a single star, was actually a cluster of five stars and several brown dwarfs, and soon numerous Earth-sized planetary bodies are discovered. Plans to colonize the system were underway by the mid-21st century when conditions on Earth became so bad that it could no longer support human life and humanity needed to find a new home. Terraforming technology, tested on Earth's moon Luna and the planet Mars, was eventually developed to a level capable of increasing the surface gravity of a moon-sized body to around 1G (Earth standard) and hold surface water and atmosphere necessary to sustain life. The system has five stars and seven brown dwarf/protostars. All the stars orbit the White Sun, which is a class A0 giant, 2.5 times bigger than Sol and 80 times as bright. The "Central Planets" are the terrestrial worlds that orbit the White Sun. Farther out in this system the Red Sun and Georgia share an orbit, along with the worlds orbiting these stars, referred to as "Border Planets". The fourth star Kalidasa and its planets orbit next. After that, the fifth and last star Blue Sun and its planets orbit. Worlds orbiting these last two stars comprise "The Rim". Planets too far away from the biozones of the main stars are sustained for habitability by a series of protostars. The protostars Qin Shi Huang and Lux orbit the White Sun. Murphy orbits Georgia. Himinbjørg and Heinlein orbit the Red Sun, Penglai orbits Kalidasa, and Burnham orbits the Blue Sun. The number of terraformed worlds in the system is never mentioned in the series though in a deleted scene from the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds", Captain Malcolm Reynolds mentions to the character Saffron that there are "more than 70 Earths spinning in this galaxy and the meek have inherited not a one." Also, the opening narration of the film Serenity gives us a brief history of the Firefly universe and mentions; "Earth That Was could no longer sustain our numbers; we were so many. We found a new Solar system, dozens of planets and hundreds of moons." All of the following bodies were terraformed and made to have a standard atmosphere and gravity in order to be capable of supporting human life. During the movie Serenity, the planet Miranda is speculated to be a "black rock" - a planet where no life exists or is possible. A generic explanation (that the terraforming did not hold) is offered to explain it, indicating that this simply happened some times while the terraforming process was occurring. Planets and Moons featured in Firefly and Serenity Ariel Ariel is a central planet of the Union of Allied Planets. It is the eleventh planet orbiting White Sun. It is home to a major medical center (named Saint Lucy's) of the Alliance's solar system. The majority of the action of the episode "Ariel" occurs on this planet. Ariel is home to a bioluminescent lake that is a popular swimming spot. Mal and Zoe's old war buddy Tracey carried human organs to Ariel, where they were meant to be removed from his body and sold. Ariel could be named after in the stellar system of "Earth that was" which gets its name from Ariel the sprite in William Shakespeare's The Tempest. The crew of Serenity arrives on this planet for Inara's annual checkup. Beaumonde Beaumonde, the fifteenth planet orbiting the star Kalidasa, It orbits the protostar Burnham, the eighth and final planet in the Blue Sun system. Ezra The first planet in the Georgia system<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/> (the "Core and Border Worlds" database refers to it as a "border moon"). Ezra is a desert world orbited by Niska's Skyplex. Mal tries to sell medical supplies here. Named in the script for "War Stories" Greenleaf The third planet orbiting the Red Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/> with a strong Alliance presence. Said to be located at times to be 10 hours away from Jiangyin. Mentioned in "Safe" as a location likely to have medical facilities. Harvest The fourth planet orbiting the Red Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. Higgin's Moon is one of its two moons. Highgate The fifth planet orbiting the Blue Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. It has one moon, Perth. It is probably named after the London borough of Highgate Ita A moon of Whittier. The crew of the S.S. Walden was returning from a salvage mission here before they discovered Serenity ' s distress signal in the episode "Out of Gas". Kerry Fourth planet orbiting Georgia<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. Named after County Kerry, Ireland. Liann Jiun A core world and fourth planet orbiting the White Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. Londinium Londinium is one of the two major planets of the 'verse (the other being Sihnon). It is the second planet orbiting the White Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. It is inhabited primarily by colonists from the western continents of Earth-that-was and is the location of the Alliance Parliament. Londinium was the Roman name for London. The name is misspelled "Londinum" in the Firefly Official Companion, Volume One, and is also misquoted as "Ondinia" in the subtitles of Region 2 & 4 DVDs. Muir Third planet orbiting the Blue Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. It is where the character Badger was raised. Newhall Newhall orbits the protostar Penglai which is the eleventh body orbiting the star Kalidasa<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. It was the destination of colonists coming from Bernadette in the episode "Bushwhacked". New Melbourne The second planet orbiting the Red Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. It is mentioned as having extensive fisheries, indicating that it may be an ocean world. In "Objects in Space", Inara and Mal discuss the possibility of her disembarking there. Mal also says that everything on New Melbourne "...is either fish and fish related activities so unless you’ve got the overwhelming urge to gut sturgeon, and who hasn’t occasionally?" from this it is concluded that New Melbourne is an oceanic planet, probably named after the Australian city Melbourne, which is on the sea, though pronounced significantly differently. Paquin A planet orbiting the brown dwarf Heinlein<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/> and a location mentioned as having a job for Mal and his crew in the episode "Out of Gas." Parth A moon of Bellerophon, and mentioned by Saffron in the episode "Trash", where she claimed (falsely) to have been sold to slave traders. Pelorum A planet orbiting the protostar Lux, the thirteenth and last body orbiting the White Sun, which is also orbited by Persephone<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. It is a resort world where the crew of Serenity travels after they successfully hijacked the drone in Better Days. It is named after the Latin name for the Punta del Faro. Salisbury The seventeenth and final planet orbiting the star Kalidasa<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. It is named after the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. Silverhold A moon of the brown dwarf/protostar Heinlein which is the eleventh and final body orbiting the Red Sun<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. Said to be eight sectors away from St. Albans which is the fifth planet in the same system. The Silverhold Colonies are the jurisdiction of Federal Agent Womack in the episode "The Message". Shadow An agricultural planet orbiting the protostar Murphy, along with Hera and Aphordite. Murphy itself is the fourteenth and final body orbiting the star Georgia<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/>. Shadow is where Mal Reynolds was raised on his mother's ranch. The Serenity Role-Playing Game and "Core and Border Worlds" database both state that it was rendered uninhabitable during the Unification War as it was one of the three leading planets for the Independents' side. Mal is quoted as saying of it: "No one lives there. No one can." Sihnon The third planet orbiting the White Sun.<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/> Together with Londinium, Sihnon is one of the two major planets of the universe. It is inhabited primarily by colonists from China. The planet is highly sophisticated and technologically advanced. It is also Inara Serra's home planet. From space, the planet has a deep red color. The capital city is said to be, according to Inara, "like an ocean of light." Mentioned in the episode "Serenity". The name Sihnon originated from the Greek myth of the Trojan War, in which the Greek man Sinon helped design the Trojan Horse. The name is misspelled as "Zenon" in the subtitles of Region 2 & 4 DVDs. Three Hills The twelfth planet orbiting Georgia.<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/> Mentioned by Mal as a location for him to sell his stolen goods in the episode "Serenity". Verbena The second planet orbiting Kalidasa.<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/> Formerly a poor and undeveloped frontier planet, the Alliance chose it as a site of a new gearshift assembly factory for military skiffs. Appears in the unaired script "Dead or Alive". Whittier The tenth planet orbiting the star Kalidasa.<ref name="The Complete and Official Map of The Verse"/> Other planets and moons (comic books or role playing game only) The worlds below are only mentioned in the Serenity Role-Playing Game or the Serenity comic books published by Dark Horse Comics Ares A moon of Boros, the third planet orbiting Georgia. It is mentioned in the Serenity Role-Playing Game. It is named after the Greek god of war. Burnet A technologically modern moon shown briefly towards the beginning of the 2017 Dark Horse graphic novel . Constance Third planet of Kalidasa where Mal, Zoe and Jayne try a bank heist while Shepherd Book delivers a sermon to act as cover. Seen in the comic book series Serenity: Those Left Behind. It may be named after a proposed name for Pluto. Fiddler's Green An unspecified moon or planet briefly discussed in the 2017 Dark Horse graphic novel . The discussion indicates that its civilian population was badly impacted during the Unification War, referencing "the refugees and camp followers who were on Fiddler's Green when the Alliance came calling". It may be named after Fiddler's Green. Theophrastus Theophrastus is shown at the conclusion of the 2014 Dark Horse graphic novel Serenity: Leaves on the Wind. Perhaps alluding to the botanical skill of the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, it appears to be a green and pleasant place. Quotations * "Sihnon isn't that different from . More crowded, obviously, and I guess more complicated. The great city itself is... pictures can't capture it. It's like an ocean of light." — Inara Serra, Serenity (pilot episode) * "Earth-that-was could no longer sustain our numbers, we were so many. We found a new Solar system — dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. Each one terraformed — a process taking decades, to support human life, to be new 'Earths'. The Central Planets formed the Alliance. Ruled by an interplanetary parliament, the Alliance was a beacon of civilization. The savage outer planets were not so enlightened and refused Alliance control. The war was devastating, but the Alliance's victory over the Independents ensured a safer universe. And now everyone can enjoy the comfort, and enlightenment of true civilization." - River Tam's teacher, Serenity movie See Also
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