Eidolon
The moon charted before discovery
An irregular moon apparently depicted in ancient charts centuries before its accepted discovery, following an orbit far removed from the one it holds today.
Overview
The Record
Eidolon is a small, irregular moon officially discovered during the later expansion into the Far Reach. The difficulty is that several much older charts appear to show it already.
Those charts depict a body with the same uneven outline and several of the same prominent surface features, but place it on an orbit incompatible with Eidolon’s present course. The resemblance is too precise to dismiss easily, yet the charts themselves are incomplete, repeatedly copied, and disputed in both age and interpretation.
No explanation has prevailed. Eidolon may have been displaced from an earlier orbit. The charts may depict another body of remarkably similar form. Their accepted dates may be wrong, or the official history of Far Reach exploration may omit knowledge preserved elsewhere. Until one of those possibilities can be proved, Eidolon remains less a mystery of discovery than a question of how something was charted centuries before anyone claims to have found it.
Political Relationships
Standing
Standing at a Glance
- Civilization Status
- Uninhabited
- Heraldic Standing
- No Unified Mark
No present power claims Eidolon, though scholarly institutions across the system dispute its history and compete for access to it.
The moon has no crest. Several symbols appear beside the suspected depictions of Eidolon on ancient charts, but their meanings are disputed and none can be shown to represent the moon itself.
Physical Characteristics
Ground and Sky
- Diameter430 km
- Mass0.000009451 Earth masses
- Gravity0.01 g
Eidolon is airless, dark, and deeply cratered. Its surface shows no significant change across modern surveys, and the persistence of its largest craters and ridges is what allows scholars to compare it so closely with the body depicted in the disputed ancient charts.
Orbit and Time
Path Around Oranth
- Orbital Order870
- Orbital Radius16,800,000 km
- Orbital Period256.864 days
- Rotation14.1 hours
- Inclination74.2 degrees
- Eccentricity0.118
Eidolon rotates once every 14.1 standard hours and follows a steeply inclined, eccentric orbit around Oranth. Reconstructing that irregular path across centuries is difficult, leaving scholars unable to determine whether the positions recorded on the ancient charts could belong to the same moon.
Culture
The Twofold
Eidolon has become associated with concealed histories, uncertain identities, and knowledge discovered before its proper time. Gloam traditions claim an obvious kinship with the mystery, while some Dawn scholars point to the ancient charts as knowledge revealed ahead of need. Neither reading proves that the Twofold had any part in Eidolon’s history.
Travel
Travel Notes
Authorized survey vessels may approach Eidolon, but reaching it is rarely convenient. Its steeply inclined, eccentric orbit demands a carefully timed intercept, and any expedition must carry substantial reserves for both arrival and departure.