Augustus

General Info

Augustus is a large J-Class gas giant with aerial life. It is the 4th planet of the 1st star in the Tolkien Binary System, home to 13 planets.

Life

The atmosphere of Augustus is unique than most gas giants. It is made of oxygen, not the typical helium and hydrogen. But bands of hydrogen still exist in the planet's atmosphere. Strange flying creatures have adapted to life there, but the planet is not the life's orgin. The life came from the neighboring planet Nocoma, a warm E-Class world with basic unicellular life. A massive asteroid impact crashed into the planet, sending debris everywhere. The life on the planet was wiped out. But some of the life was hiding in the asteroids that shot out from the impact, and one landed on the gas giant. The others that didn't land there ended up starving to death in the asteroids. The gas giant was seeded with life from the impacts. The bacteria evolved to float, and eventually became multicellular organisms. The many creatures there are similar to whales or dolphins, but also have a slightly bug-like appearance. They breath in the small amount of helium in the planet's atmosphere, and use it in large bladders to stay afloat. Some also have wings, though it is hard to fly through the dense atmosphere. Some life has adapted harder exoskeletons and have migrated to the lower regions of the gas giant where the pressure is so high that the gas turns into a liquid of oxygen and helium. The creatures 'swim' through the honey-like substance, and produce bioluminescence.