The Daemon system
(highlights)
Discovered in 2104 when an expedition ship from the Institute for Cosmic Engineering (ICE)
Daemon A
Daemon A is a red dwarf star some 445.98 light years from Sol (as determined by observations of the stellar neighbourhood). As the above image illustrates, Daemon A experiences significant flaring activity. In their naivete and lack of imagination 21st century astronomers believed that such stars could not play host to life, but we will shortly see the massive error of such a view.
Daemon B
This companion star is so tiny that it almost isn't a star. It only qualifies by being barely massive enough to fuse hydrogen. This star's helioseismological readings are most unusual and appear to be indicative of something strange going on at the centre. While red dwarf stars in general can burn for trillions of years in their Main Sequence, Daemon B burns so dimly that its fuel is reckoned to last nearly a quadrillion (thousand trillion) years!
Manta
Manta is the innermost major planetary body, possessing a system of large and small moons much like the outer planets of the Solar system.
United
United is the one and only directly habitable moon of Manta, possessing a dense (2.1 Earth atmospheres) but breathable atmosphere with a greater fraction of carbon dioxide. The surface is much drier than Earth, but the biochemically compatible local ecosystems keep the whole planet balanced in a habitable state. The lack of large oceans slows down tectonic movement and allows geothermal energy to build up to greater levels before being released. This means that volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are much more spectacular on United than they are on Earth. The local gravity is a weighty 1.65 times that of Earth thanks to United's greater radius. It is believed that United's thick atmosphere and active geomagnetism prevents the surface from being sterilised by cosmic radiation.
Wormhole to the Solar system
This is the wormhole that opened up in 2102. On the other side it orbits the Sun roughly 50 Astronomical Units away. It is clearly artificial, possessing stabilising structures on the inside that are under a great deal of tension, equivalent to the mass-energy of 9 Jupiters.