List of Firefly planets and moons
Encyclopedia
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
s and moons
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
from the Firefly
Firefly (TV series)
Firefly is an American space western television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon, under his Mutant Enemy Productions label. Whedon served as executive producer, along with Tim Minear....
/ Serenity
Serenity (film)
Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
. 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
Planetary system
A planetary system consists of the various non-stellar objects orbiting a star such as planets, dwarf planets , asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and cosmic dust...
or many (however, creator Joss Whedon
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill "Joss" Whedon is an American screenwriter, executive producer, director, comic book writer, occasional composer and actor, founder of Mutant Enemy Productions and co-creator of Bellwether Pictures...
, as well as all licensed products, confirms that there is no faster-than-light
Faster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of 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
John Flamsteed
Sir John Flamsteed FRS was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. He catalogued over 3000 stars.- Life :Flamsteed was born in Denby, Derbyshire, England, the only son of Stephen Flamsteed...
in 1690 which was later determined to be the planet Uranus. A pdf
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
The Verse in Numbers that accompanies 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 22nd century when conditions on Earth become so bad that it can 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
Brown dwarf
Brown dwarfs are sub-stellar objects which are too low in mass to sustain hydrogen-1 fusion reactions in their cores, which is characteristic of stars on the main sequence. Brown dwarfs have fully convective surfaces and interiors, with no chemical differentiation by depth...
/protostars. All the stars orbit the White Sun, (also called 34 Tauri (2020) A, or Bai Hu (White Tiger) by the Chinese), 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 (a class G5, also called 34 Tauri (2020) B, or Zhu Que (Red Phoenix)) and Georgia (class G0, also called 34 Tauri (2020) C, Huang Long (Yellow Dragon)) share an orbit and worlds orbiting these stars are referred to as "Border Planets". The fourth star Kalidasa (class F5, also called 34 Tauri (2020) D, or Xuan Wu (Black Tortoise)), and its planets orbit next. After that, the fifth and last star Blue Sun, (class F0, also called 34 Tauri (2020) E, or Qing Long (Blue Dragon)), 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. Himmbjørg 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
Our Mrs. Reynolds
"Our Mrs. Reynolds" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon.As an unexpected reward for an unpaid job, Mal finds himself married to a naïve, subservient young woman named Saffron...
", Captain Malcolm Reynolds
Malcolm Reynolds
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a fictional character and main protagonist in the Firefly franchise. Reynolds is played by actor Nathan Fillion in the 2002 TV series Firefly and the 2005 film Serenity. In the series, Reynolds is the captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity...
mentions to the character Saffron that there are "more than 70 earths spinning in this galaxy and the meek have inherited
Beatitudes
In Christianity, the Beatitudes are a set of teachings by Jesus that appear in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. The term Beatitude comes from the Latin adjective beatus which means happy, fortunate, or blissful....
not a one." Also, the opening narration of the film Serenity
Serenity (film)
Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
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 Sol
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
ar system, dozens of planets and hundreds of moons."
All of the following bodies were terraformed
Terraforming
Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
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 planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
of the Union of Allied Planets
Alliance (Firefly)
The Alliance is a fictional supra-governmental entity in the Serenity franchise, a powerful authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that controls the majority of territory within the known universe...
. It is the eleventh planet orbiting White Sun. It is home to a major medical center (named Saint Lucy
Saint Lucy
Saint Lucy , also known as Saint Lucia, was a wealthy young Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint by Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Orthodox Christians. Her feast day in the West is 13 December; with a name derived from lux, lucis "light", she is the patron saint of those who are...
's) of the Alliance's solar system
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
. The majority of the action of the episode "Ariel
Ariel (Firefly episode)
"Ariel" is the ninth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon.Hard up for cash, Serenity takes on a job from Simon: break into an Alliance hospital on central world Ariel so that he can get a thorough diagnostic of River and the crew can loot the valuable...
" 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 one of Uranus' moons
Ariel (moon)
Ariel is the brightest and fourth-largest of the 27 known moons of Uranus. Ariel orbits and rotates in the equatorial plane of Uranus, which is almost perpendicular to the orbit of Uranus, and so has an extreme seasonal cycle....
in the stellar system of "Earth that was" which gets its name from Ariel
Ariel
Ariel may refer to:-Film:*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award*Ariel , a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki-People:*Ariel , any of several real or fictional people of that name...
the sprite in William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. The crew of Serenity
Serenity (Firefly vessel)
Serenity is a fictional Firefly class spaceship appearing in Joss Whedon's Firefly television series and related works. Set in the 26th century, the series revolves around nine characters, which form the crew of the small transport ship, as they try to make a living through various legal and...
arrives on this planet for Inara's annual checkup.
Beaumonde
Beaumonde, the fifteenth planet orbiting the star Kalidasa, is a fairly wealthy planet. The planet is known to have factories and ranches. The Serenity crew arrives here after their heist on Lilac, to share part of their earnings with the brothers Fanty and Mingo. Their port of call is a large Asian city. At the bar called Maidenhead, which was chosen for these dealings, they discover River's Alliance-conditioned fighting abilities. This occurs during the SerenitySerenity (film)
Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
movie. About seven months earlier, the crew was headed for Beaumonde in the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds
Our Mrs. Reynolds
"Our Mrs. Reynolds" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon.As an unexpected reward for an unpaid job, Mal finds himself married to a naïve, subservient young woman named Saffron...
". Beaumonde roughly translated from French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
means "beautiful world."
Bellerophon
Bellerophon, seen in the episode "Trash", is a technologically advanced Alliance world, and home to the wealthy. It is the tenth planet orbiting the White Sun. It has both a large ocean and an empty area of desert climate, complete with canyons, rocks and sand. Isis Canyon is pointed out as the most deserted spot on the world. Bellerophon Estates, large self-contained estates that hover with anti-gravity above the moon's ocean, are described as having "gracious living, ocean views and state-of-the-art security." Durran Haymer, a collector of priceless Earth That Was artifacts, lives in Bellerophon Estates. The planet is named after a heroBellerophon
Bellerophon or Bellerophontes is a hero of Greek mythology. He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside of Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles", and his greatest feat was killing the Chimera, a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a...
in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. "Bellerophon" is also the name of an interstellar spacecraft referred to in the movie Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film directed by Fred M. Wilcox, with a screenplay by Cyril Hume. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis. The characters and its setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and its plot contains certain...
, as well as the unofficial name of 51 Pegasi b
51 Pegasi b
51 Pegasi b , sometimes though unofficially named Bellerophon, is an extrasolar planet approximately 50 light-years away in the constellation of Pegasus...
, the first extrasolar planet around Sun-like star to be discovered.
Haven
Haven, a moon of Deadwood, the seventh planet orbiting the Blue Sun, is the home of Shepherd Book, who left the crew during the events of the comic book series titled Serenity: Those Left BehindSerenity: Those Left Behind
Serenity: Those Left Behind is a 2005 three-issue comic book limited series published by Dark Horse Comics. It was written by Brett Matthews with Joss Whedon credited for story, illustrated by Will Conrad, and colored by Laura Martin....
, and where he resided in the movie. It was also a place of refuge for the Serenity crew. In the novelization of the film, it is revealed that Haven is a mining planet which is often used as a hiding place for those running from the law (for a fee) and is where some smugglers or criminals decide to settle down.
Hera
Hera is an Earth-like planet with important significance to the Unification War (according to the "Core and Border Worlds" database included as bonus material on the Serenity Blu-ray disc, it was one of the three leading planets for the Independent's side). It orbits the protostar Murphy, which is the fourteenth planet orbiting the star Georgia. Serenity Valley is located here, where the Independent Faction experienced a crushing defeat at the hands of the AllianceAlliance (Firefly)
The Alliance is a fictional supra-governmental entity in the Serenity franchise, a powerful authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that controls the majority of territory within the known universe...
. First mentioned in the episode "Serenity
Serenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
". Hera is named after a goddess in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, Zeus' wife and sister. In the closed-captioning for the episode "Bushwhacked", it is erroneously spelled "Hara".
Higgins' Moon
Higgins' Moon orbits Harvest, the fourth planet orbiting the Red Sun, where the primary commercial activity is mud mining which is performed by indentured workers called "mudders". The mud is exported offworld and used in the manufacturing of ceramic components. The bulk of the population are impoverished and/or indentured workers. The moon appears to be owned by a magistrate named Higgins. Jayne became a folk hero to the mudders in the town of Canton due to his role in a botched heist about four years before the time of the Firefly series. The crew visits Higgins' Moon in the episode "JaynestownJaynestown
"Jaynestown" is the seventh episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon.Returning to a planet where he ran into some serious trouble years ago, Jayne discovers that he's become a local folk legend...
."
Jiangyin
Jiangyin is a border planet located three weeks away from Persephone, and also nearby Greenleaf. It is the first planet orbiting the Red Sun and is the capital world of that system. Alliance law is known to be upheld here. The crew of Serenity sells a cargo load of cattleCattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
here in the episode "Safe". The planet is most likely named after a city in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's Jiangsu province along the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
.
Lilac
Lilac is a moon of New Canaan, the second planet orbiting the Blue Sun (the "Core and Border Worlds" database refers to Lilac as a "border planet", however). It is near ReaverReaver (Firefly)
Reavers are a group of humans in the television series Firefly and the movie Serenity who live on the fringes of civilized space and have become animalistic...
territory. From space it appears to have a "lilac" (or purple-ish) color, which presumably it was named for. The Serenity crew land on Lilac to rob a bank holding an Alliance payroll. Lilac is at times roughly ten hours from Beaumonde as stated by Mal.
Miranda
Miranda is the name of a planet located beyond ReaverReaver (Firefly)
Reavers are a group of humans in the television series Firefly and the movie Serenity who live on the fringes of civilized space and have become animalistic...
territory. It orbits the protostar Burnham, the eighth and final planet in the Blue Sun system. It was home to an Alliance
Alliance (Firefly)
The Alliance is a fictional supra-governmental entity in the Serenity franchise, a powerful authoritarian government and law-enforcement organization that controls the majority of territory within the known universe...
colony with a population of 30 million. The Alliance experimented on the population to find a way to make people more controllable. However the experiments with "G-23 paxilon hydrochlorate", or "Pax" (Pax is a Latin word meaning Peace), failed: 99.9% of the population became so passive that they essentially lost the will to live. The opposite effect was observed in the remaining 0.1% of the population, who became extremely aggressive and butchered the Alliance scientists in charge of the experiments. This portion of the population escaped and became the Reavers. The Alliance tried to cover up what had happened on the planet by creating a story that the colony was lost due to failure in the terraforming equipment. Like Ariel, Miranda shares its name both with a character from The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
and a moon of Uranus.
Osiris
Osiris, the seventh world orbiting the White Sun, is a wealthy core planet where Simon Tam attended medical school and worked as a trauma surgeonTrauma surgery
Trauma surgery is a surgical specialty involved in the invasive treatment of physical injuries, typically in an emergency setting. Trauma surgeons generally complete residency training in general surgery and often fellowship training in trauma or surgical critical care...
, mentioned in the episode "Serenity
Serenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
". Osiris is also likely to be the location of the Tam Family estate shown in various flashbacks in the episode "Safe". Named after the Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian god of life, death, and fertility, "Osiris" is also the unofficial name of HD 209458 b
HD 209458 b
HD 209458 b is an extrasolar planet that orbits the Solar analog star HD 209458 in the constellation Pegasus, some 150 light-years from Earth's solar system, with evidence of water vapor....
, the first extrasolar planet
Extrasolar planet
An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
to be discovered by the transit method.
Persephone
Persephone is a civilized planet with heavily stratifiedSocial stratification
In sociology the social stratification is a concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."...
societal structure. According to the "Core and Border Worlds" database included as bonus material on the Serenity Blu-ray disc, it was one of the three leading planets for the Independent's side of the Unification War. Persephone orbits the protostar Lux which is the last planet in the White Star system. The Eavesdown Docks are located here, a commercial port and Badger's base of operations. The Serenity crew lands here periodically to resupply and pick up work. Simon and River Tam, Shepherd Book and the Alliance villain Dobson were picked up here in the episode "Serenity
Serenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
". Book had been living on Persephone at the Southdown Abbey. The planet was also the site of a swordfighting duel between Malcolm Reynolds
Malcolm Reynolds
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a fictional character and main protagonist in the Firefly franchise. Reynolds is played by actor Nathan Fillion in the 2002 TV series Firefly and the 2005 film Serenity. In the series, Reynolds is the captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity...
and Atherton Wing in the episode "Shindig". Persephone's name comes from Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
as the name of the "Queen of the Underworld" and was an early name for a proposed tenth planet.
Regina
Second planet orbiting Georgia. It is a mining world upon which many people are suffering from "Bowden's malady", a degenerative disease. This is where "The Train JobThe Train Job
"The Train Job" is the second episode of the American science-fiction western television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon, although it was the first to be shown...
" takes place.
Santo
An unsophisticated planet near Persephone. It is a moon of Qin Shi Huang, a protostar orbiting the White Sun, which itself is the eighth planetary body in the system. From space, Santo has a bluish-gray color. Mal and Jayne get into a fight with some slavers here. It is seen in the episode "Shindig".St. Albans
St. Albans, the fifth planet orbiting the Red Sun, is an icy world, and Tracey's home planet. Located at times about two days away from the Space Bazaar Sky Plex. There is apparently a single Federal Station located somewhere on the planet, reasonably close to a huge gorge through which Serenity flies in an attempt to outrun an Alliance gunship. Tracey is brought back to this planet in the episode "The Message". It is named after the city of St AlbansSt Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Triumph
Triumph orbits the brown dwarf Heinlein, itself ninth body orbiting the Red Sun. Triumph is a primitive and poor world, apparently self-governed with rather unusual customs and traditions. Elder Gomman is the leader of the moon's settlers or, more likely, one small town's worth of them. Saffron was picked up here in the episode "Our Mrs. ReynoldsOur Mrs. Reynolds
"Our Mrs. Reynolds" is the sixth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon.As an unexpected reward for an unpaid job, Mal finds himself married to a naïve, subservient young woman named Saffron...
".
Whitefall
Whitefall is the fourth moon of Athens, the ninth planet orbiting the star Georgia. A large percentage of the world is owned by a woman named Patience. Whitefall is said to not be civilizationCivilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
"in the strictest sense." The crew visits Whitefall hoping to sell their cargo to Patience in the episode "Serenity
Serenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
". According to the RPG, a Blue Sun facility is rumored to be underneath one of the mountains. A security outpost on the planet was later seen in the film Serenity
Serenity (film)
Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
.
Other planets and moons
These worlds were not featured on screen but were mentioned either in dialog or featured in other media such as the Complete and Official Map of the Verse, the Serenity comic books published by Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
and the Serenity Role-Playing Game published by Margaret Weis Productions
Margaret Weis
Margaret Edith Weis is a fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, is one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world and has written numerous novels and short stories set in fantastic worlds.-Early life:Margaret Weis was born in 1948 in Independence, Missouri, and later attended...
.
Aberdeen
Thirteenth planet orbiting the star Kalidasa. Named after Aberdeen, Scotland, a city on the river Dee.Ares
A moon of Boros, the third planet orbiting Georgia. It is mentioned in 'Serenity Role-Playing Game.Bernadette
A central planet, the first planet orbiting the White Sun. According to the "Core and Border Worlds" database included as bonus material on the Serenity Blu-ray disc, Bernadette is a staging ground for settler expansion out to border planets. The settlers in "Bushwhacked" left from here on their way to Newhall.Beylix
A planet orbiting Penglai, a protostar orbiting Kalidasa and the eleventh body in the Kalidasa system. It has three moons, and appears to have a permanent cloud cover and dense ice rings. Mal's war buddy Monty was caught by the Alliance here. Mal refers to it in the episode "Trash".Boros
Third planet orbiting Georgia. It has a strong Alliance presence. Originally the destination of the travellers picked up by Serenity on Persephone. Mentioned in the episode "SerenitySerenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
". A security outpost on the planet is seen in the film Serenity
Serenity (film)
Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
.
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 BehindSerenity: Those Left Behind
Serenity: Those Left Behind is a 2005 three-issue comic book limited series published by Dark Horse Comics. It was written by Brett Matthews with Joss Whedon credited for story, illustrated by Will Conrad, and colored by Laura Martin....
.
Dyton
Dyton is a moon of Greenleaf, the third planet orbiting the Red Sun, and is possibly the home planet of Badger. The colony's inhabitants were likely of BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
origin, since English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
accents appear common among people from Dyton. Referred to by River in the episode "Shindig".
Ezra
The first planet in the Georgia system (the "Core and Border Worlds" database refers to it as a "border moon", however). 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 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.Heinlein
A brown dwarf orbited by Triumph, Paquin, Lazarus, and Silverhold. The dwarf itself orbits the Red Sun and is the last body in the system. It may have been named in honor of science fiction author Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
.
Ita
A moon of Whittier. The crew of the S.S. Walden was returning from a salvage mission here before they discovered SerenitySerenity (Firefly vessel)
Serenity is a fictional Firefly class spaceship appearing in Joss Whedon's Firefly television series and related works. Set in the 26th century, the series revolves around nine characters, which form the crew of the small transport ship, as they try to make a living through various legal and...
Out of Gas
"Out of Gas" is the eighth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. It differs stylistically from the rest of the series, in that it tells its story alternately in three timeframes: events in the present, events in the near-past that led to the present, and...
".
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. It is inhabited primarily by colonists from the western continents of Earth-that-was and is the location of the Alliance ParliamentParliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
. Londinium
Londinium
The city of London was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a major imperial commercial centre until its abandonment during the 5th century.-Origins and language:...
was the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
name for London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. 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.
Newhall
Newhall orbits the protostar Penglai which is the eleventh body orbiting the star Kalidasa. It was the destination of colonists coming from Bernadette in the episode "Bushwhacked".New Melbourne
The second planet orbiting the Red Sun. It is mentioned as having extensive fisheries, indicating that it may be an ocean world. In "Objects in SpaceObjects in Space
"Objects in Space" is the 14th episode and series finale of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. Serenity encounters Jubal Early, a ruthless professional bounty hunter who will stop at nothing to retrieve River...
", 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
Sturgeon
Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...
, and who hasn’t occasionally?" from this it is concluded that New Melbourne is an oceanic planet, probably named after the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n city Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, which is on the sea, though pronounced significantly differently.
Paquin
A moon of the brown dwarf Heinlein and a location mentioned as having a job for Mal and his crew in the episode "Out of GasOut of Gas
"Out of Gas" is the eighth episode of the science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. It differs stylistically from the rest of the series, in that it tells its story alternately in three timeframes: events in the present, events in the near-past that led to the present, and...
".
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. It is a resort world where the crew of Serenity travels after they successfully hijacked the drone in Better Days.Silverhold
A moon of the brown dwarf/protostar Heinlein which is the eleventh and final body orbiting the Red Sun. 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. 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 Independent's side. Mal is quoted as saying of it; "No one lives there. No one can."Sihnon
The third planet orbiting the White Sun. Together with Londinium, Sihnon is one of the two major planets of the universe. It is inhabited primarily by colonists from ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. 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
Serenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
". The name Sihnon originated from the Greek myth of the Trojan War
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
, in which the Greek man Sihnon helped design the Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
. The name is misspelled as "Zenon" in the subtitles of Region 2 & 4 DVDs.
Three Hills
The twelfth planet orbiting Georgia. Mentioned by MalMalcolm Reynolds
Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a fictional character and main protagonist in the Firefly franchise. Reynolds is played by actor Nathan Fillion in the 2002 TV series Firefly and the 2005 film Serenity. In the series, Reynolds is the captain of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity...
as a location for him to sell his stolen goods at in the episode "Serenity
Serenity (Firefly episode)
"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
".
Verbena
The second planet orbiting Kalidasa. 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".Quotations
- "Sihnon isn't that different from [Persephone]. 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, SerenitySerenity (Firefly episode)"Serenity" is the two-hour series pilot for the American science fiction television series Firefly created by Joss Whedon. However, Fox executives were not satisfied with this as a pilot, and so instead, "The Train Job" was created as a second pilot and was the first episode of the series aired....
(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, SerenitySerenity (film)Serenity is a 2005 space western film written and directed by Joss Whedon. It is a continuation of the short-lived 2002 Fox science fiction television series Firefly, taking place after the events of the final episode. Set in 2518, Serenity is the story of the captain and crew of a cargo ship...
movie
External links
- Multiple system theory blog with images from the Serenity movie.
- Fan attempts to map the Firefly system -- these differ, reflecting different assumptions: