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Pern:

See Also: Flora, Fauna, Climate

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonrider series is set on planet Pern. In the distant future, humans colonize it in the hopes of living the utopian existence not possible on Terran* [1]. It is located in the Saggitarian sector of Space, and orbits Rukbat, a golden G-type star. 

 

Prallel Earth, Resources Negligible: This is the classification given to Pern by the EEC (Exploration and Evaluation Corps) survey team which initially assessed the planet for colonization. The acronym P.E.R.N. was also used as the planet's name. According to the survey's findings, it's low levels of ore and other industrial materials deemed it "insufficient to support interstellar commercial investment," making it a prime candidate for establishing a scientific agrarian civilization. 

 

Although no major environmental or microbeal threats were detected, there were a handful of unexplained red flags observed, yet they were not thoroughly documented: Circular barren patches of land, which were showing signs of re-growth, and major gaps in the ecosystem, implying a recent mass-extinction event. It goes without saying that the EEC survey team failed to remain objective during their stay on the pastoral grassy planet. ("The Survey: P.E.R.N." First Fall. 1993.)

Terran Meaning
Planet Size

Gravity: .9 Terran

 

General Size*[2] : .5 Pluto - Terran

(Oath: Mars)

 

Axial tilt: 15 degrees

 

Rotation: West to East

(opposite Terran)

 

Atmosphere: "a slightly higher oxygen content." - Can also be assumed to be denser due to the planet being smaller but still having .9 gravity.

 

 

 

 

Pern is the third of five native planets in it's solar system, which also contains two asteroid belts and the Oort Cloud, which remained of mysterious composition until well after colonization.

 
The sixth planet:

 

The Red Star is a rogue that was fairly recently acquired by Rukbat's gavitational field. Classified as: "a Sedna-class inner Oort cloud object," it's orbit is intensely elliptical, bringing it from the outer reaches of the solar system, and right through the middle past Pern and the sun. The planet was named the Red "Star" for it's reddish glow. The period during which the Red Star moves through the inner solar system is called a Pass. 

Geology:

 

Pern has three prominent land-masses. From smallest to largest they are simply known as Western, Northern and Southern. The Northern continent is generally higher in elevation, and rockier than Southern.

 

It can be assumed that Pern has higher levels of volcanic activity than Terran.

 

[See Tectonics]

 

Colonization:

 

Eventually, centuries after the EEC team's survey, approximately 6,000 colonists arrived on three ships: The Yokohama, Bahrain and Buenos Aires. Most of the colonists were not actually from Terran, but from Terran's First Base on the Moon, Tau Ceti iii, and from the colony on Alpha Centauri. They had been burdened by war with the Nathi race, an oppressive technocratic society. The one-way journey took 15 years.

 

Landing's coordinates were chosen to be 30°S by 13.30., a volcanic plateu in the Southern Continent, at the Eastern foot of a dormant volcano (thought to be extinct) named Mount Garben - after the senator who secured approval from the Federation of Sentient Planets for Pern's colonization. To the East of Landing was scrubland. The plateu provided ample space for the colonists to build their initial base.

 

The objective of the colonists was to establish a high-tech, agrarian, non-centralized democracy which promoted equal opportunity. They had essentially achieved this goal by the time external forces would be fated to intervene.  

Pass
The Pass, the Oort Cloud and Thread:
Pass of The Red Star

Thread fell in the 8th year after colonization. The mycorrhizoid-like spores were brought from the Oort Cloud as a cometary tail by the Red Star, and as it made it's Pass, they were caught in Pern's gravitational pull. Thread turned out to be a catastrophically destructive organism to all carbon-based organic matter that it came into contact with. [See Thread]

 

Settlements and steakholds all accross Southern were abandoned as colonists returned to the relative security of Landing.

 

Although thread falls for 50 years - and the Pernese refer to this entire period as a "Pass" - the actual time that the Red Star spends in the inner system depends entirely on it's orbital dynamics. Elliptical orbits like this accelerate as the object nears it's focal point, which in this case, is Rukbat.

Realistically, the Red Star should only spend months to a few years inside Pern's orbital path. For our calendar, this period is TBD. The Red Star in theory, would vary in visual size dramatically in Pern's sky, depending, not only on whether it was a Pass, but also on the time of year.

 

The Red Star sheds it's cometary tail as it passes, hence the 50 years of residual threadfall.

The Second Crossing:

 

One of the smaller peaks on Garben's South-side, Picchu, began to smoke, and the colonists kept a close watch on it's activity, but without warning, Mount Garben's primary peak began to erupt. The colonists hastily evacuated to the Northern Continent. Eventually all nomads would join the Holds, established to keep people concentrated so the land would be easier to protect with the sleds. It had become apparent that Pern needed a renewable kind of air-force. 

 

After the genetically engineered dragons proved themselves in combat against thread, and the first Weyr had been established, a new the pact of tithe was established.

Footnotes
Footnotes

  1. Terran is the universal name for Earth as it's used in Anne's Dragonriders series. In reality "Terra" is one of Earth's legitimate names. [Back]

  2. Pern's size has even more conflicting data than dragon-size. The Atlas of Pern states that the planet has a tiny diameter of 2,900 miles. That is half the size of Pluto! One volcanic eruption could wipe out all life on a planet so small - if it could maintain a molten core. The moons of a planet that size would also be non-spherical because they'd have to be so small. Climate woudl be another huge issue. These problems also apply to a Pluto-sized planet. The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern on the other hand claims: "the planet's diameter is approximately sixty-five hundred miles." This Is assuming an almost Earth-sized planet because Pern's gravity is .9 that of Terran. In keeping with a smaller world Oath has compromised with a Mars-sized Pern.[Back]

  3. It's ostensible that the Red Star passes between Pern and Rukbat. The diagram depicting Pass from the Atlas is not very reliable from a scientific stand-point, though the source is closer to canon, there are many issues which will be discussed on the page [Thread.] [Back]

Sources

  1. Nye, Jodi Lynn. McCaffrey Anne. The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern. Del Rey. 1989.

  2. Fonstad, Karen Wynn. McCaffrey Anne. The Atlas of Pern. Del Rey. 1984.

  3. News From Bree: http://www.newsfrombree.co.uk/pern.htm

  4. Sariel's Guide to Pern: http://pern.srellim.org/time.htm

  5. The Pern Encyclopedia: http://www.pern.nl/pe/peintro_2.html

  6. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (visit for more about the EEC team and details of colonization): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pern

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