Planets, Stars, and Other Celestial Objects (Fictional and Non-Fictional) Part VI (H-L)
Submitted by Oedipus on Wed, 08/17/2005 - 02:02
- Hades Prison planet where none of the native wildlife can be metabolized by humans. In Honorverse by David Weber.
- Hain The original human world in science fiction novels of Ursula K. Le Guin. The Hainish used genetic engineering techniques to adapt human beings to non-optimal worlds (for example the androgynes of Gethen in The Left Hand of Darkness). Hainish civilization subsequently collapsed and the colony planets forgot that other human worlds existed.
- Halley's Comet In 1705, Edmond Halley applied Newton's method to twenty-four cometary apparitions that had occurred between 1337 and 1698. He noted that three of these, the comets of 1531, 1607, and 1682, had very similar orbital elements, and he was further able to account for the slight differences in their orbits in terms of gravitational perturbation by Jupiter and Saturn. Confident that these three apparitions had been three appearances of the same comet, he predicted that it would appear again in 1758-9. [N] (Earlier, Robert Hooke had identified the comet of 1664 with that of 1618, [N] while Jean-Dominique Cassini had suspected the identity of the comets of 1577, 1665, and 1680. [N] Both were incorrect.) Halley's predicted return date was later refined by a team of three French mathematicians: Alexis Clairaut, Joseph Lalande, and Nicole-Reine Lepaute, who predicted the date of the comet's 1759 perihelion to within one month's accuracy. [N] When the comet returned as predicted, it became known as Comet Halley or Halley's Comet (its official designation is 1P/Halley). Its next appearance is due in 2061.
- Hapes Cluster Charubah is one of the most technological worlds in the Hapes Cluster. Star Wars
- Hastromil An inhabited solar system which boils away into the ultraviolet a few minutes before the rest of the Universe ends, thus providing Milliways' patrons with a first foretaste of the apocalypse to come at the end of their meals. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Hope is another planet populated by humans whose technological advancement is roughly equal to that of Earth in XX century. Approximately in 2123 AD a massive ecological catastrophe (probably, a man-made one) devastated the planet causing its inhabitants to age at an unnatural pace after the twelfth year of life. Wanderers, apparently believing that a new, clean enviroment is the cure, have transported most of the population of Hope to an unknown planet using some sort of enhanced null-T, but few people decided to remain and became a subject of a consequent hunt by Wanderers (through a sofisticated system of traps, especially for children). Discovered in 2162 AD. The Noon Universe novels by Strugatsky brothers
- Horsehead Nebula contains the twin stars Soulianis and Rahm and the planet Magrathea that orbits them. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Irk is a fictional planet seen in the animated television series, Invader Zim. The inhabitants are called Irkens. From what official information provides, Irk is blue in color and has a Saturn-like ring around it. The Irkens, the inhabitants of Irk, are born and raised to conquer and enslave/destroy the species of the universe. Invader Zim
- Ix The machine planet. Dune by Frank Herbert
- Jaglan Beta is, evidently, the second planet in a star system near the Axle Nebula. The entry on the usefulness of towels in the Hitchhiker's Guide notes that Jaglan Beta's moons are quite cold, and that a towel is useful for wrapping up with while on them. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and by far the largest within our solar system. Some have described the solar system as consisting of the Sun, Jupiter, and assorted debris, and others describe it as the solar system's vacuum cleaner, due to its immense gravity well. It and the other gas giants Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are sometimes referred to as "Jovian planets." The Romans named the planet after the Roman god Jupiter (also called Jove). The astronomical symbol for the planet is a stylized representation of the god's lightning bolt. The Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures refer to the planet as the Wood Star, based on the Five Elements.
- Kakrafoon is an arid world which has a reddish surface similar to that of Mars, perhaps indicating a similar geologic composition and history. Unlike Mars, Kakrafoon has a sentient species known as the Belcerebons. Sentenced by Galactic Tribunal to be telepathic, the only ways of blocking out these messages is to either talk constantly about anything and everything, or to play host to a Disaster Area rock concert. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Kali an object which threatens to strike earth it appears to be an almost dead comet in the novel The Hammer of God (1993) by Arthur C. Clarke.
- Kokaubeam Signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven. The Pearl of Great Price [Abraham 3:13]
- Kokob A star. The Pearl of Great Price [Abraham 3:13]
- Kolob The star nearest to God. The great star. Kolob is after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years. The Pearl of Great Price [Abraham 3:2-18]
- K-PAX A distant planet, home to Prott in the movie K-PAX.
- Kria Home world of the Azgoths, Kria is therefore home to the second worst poetry in the Universe according to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Azgoth poetry was once exceeded in awfulness by a human poet from Essex, England (on Earth), though the Vogons' demolition of that planet leaves the Azgoths in the top spot. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Krikkit The planet Krikkit is (at the beginning of Life, the Universe, and Everything) located in a dust cloud composed chiefly of the disintegrated remains of the enormous spaceborne computer Hactar. Hactar was originally created by the Silastic Armorfiends of Striterax to design the Ultimate Weapon. Hactar produced a very, very small bomb that, when activated, would connect every star to every other star and, thus, destroy the universe. The bomb proved disfunctional because Hactar had designed it with a tiny flaw, reasoning that no consequence could be worse than that of setting the bomb off. The Silastic Armorfiends disagreed and destroyed Hactar. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
- Krypton Named after the chemical element Krypton, the planet was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster for the syndicated daily newspaper strip in 1939 and later brought into the comic books. Krypton no longer exists in the DC Comics universe, as it exploded as a result of highly unstable geological conditions. The entire civilization and race of Krypton perished in the explosion, except for one sole survivor: the baby Kal-El, who was placed in an escape rocket by his father Jor-El and sent to the planet Earth. Kal-El grew up to become Superman. In some versions of the mythos, a few additional survivors, such as Krypto, Supergirl and the criminal inhabitants of the Phantom Zone, were also survivors of the cataclysm..
- Lamuella is the planet Arthur Dent lives and works (as a Sandwich Maker) in at the start of Mostly Harmless. The planet is mostly made up of villages, but intersects a plural zone, allowing for teleportation to the Domain of the King. The primary species of the planet are humans, Perfectly Normal Beasts and pikka birds. The residents of Lamuella worship a deity by the name of Almighty Bob.
- Leonida is the homeplanet of Leoniders, a humanoid alien race that lives in a perfect symbiosis with the planet's biosphere. Leonida is located in EN-23 system, it's only moon is called Palmira and its day-night cycle lasts a bit longer than 27 hours. This planet was apparently the first one with an Earth-like climate suitable for humans' existence. Discovered in 2133 AD. The Noon Universe novels by Strugatsky brothers.
I still have a lot to add from the Star Wars universe, the Star Trek universe as well as many other fictional universes.
This is a work in progress that will take awhile and it is safe to say that this will never be a complete list.
References:
The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide to the Future by Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, Debbie Mirek
The Essential Guide to Alien Species (Star Wars) by Ann Margaret Lewis, R. K. Post
The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons (Star Wars) by Daniel Wallace, Brandon McKinney, Scott Kolins
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia