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The Stars and Planets of Frank Herbert's _Dune_: A Gazetteer By Joseph M. Daniels (c) 1999 (14201 B.G.

), All rights reserved. ************ Dedication To Cliff Amos, who told me a quarter century ago that I should read sci-fi: --I said I preferred non-fiction. To Chuck Bertram, who strongly suggested almost a decade ago that I read _Dune_: --I told him I saw the movie. To the young woman behind the counter of the L. L. Bookworm Bookstore, Holden Beach, North Carolina in June, 1994: --She thought _Dune_ was the greatest book ever written. So I finally yielded to suggestion: --Thus becoming hopelessly addicted to the spice melange! They are all partly to blame for this! ************ Table of Contents: Part One: Introduction A. Prologue B. Conventions and Source Citations C. Mapping the Imperium Part Two: The Zensunni Wandering A. Origin: Old Earth B. The First Stop: Poritrin C. The Second Stop: Salusa Secundus D. The Third Stop: Bela Tegeuse E. The Fourth Stop: Ishia F. The Fifth Stop: Rossak G. The Sixth Stop: Harmonthep Part Three: Miscellanea Imperii A. Chusuk: the Music Planet B. Corrin C. Delta Kaising III D. Ecaz: The Sculptor's Paradise E. Galicia F. Gamont: The Pleasure Planet G. Grumman H. Hagal: The Jewel Planet I. Ix and Richese J. Kaitain: The Imperial Court K. Sikun L. Tleilax M. Tupile N. Wallach IX Part Four: Terrae Incognitae Table of Stellar and Planetary Names

Part Five: Harkonnen and Atreides A. Giedi Prime (later Gammu) B. Caladan (later Dan) C. Arrakis (later Rakis)-a.k.a. Dune ************ Part One: Introduction "The singular multiplicity of this universe draws my deepest attention. It is a thing of ultimate beauty." -The Stolen Journals (of Leto II), __God Emperor of Dune__, page 234. ****** Prologue: As every Bene Gesserit sister will come to know and all readers of _Dune_ should already know, a beginning is a delicate time. So I shall take care to explain my intentions. I have long had a casual interest in both astronomy and science fiction. n Frank Herbert's _Dune_ captivated me a few years ago, I decided to take at its astronomical references. I thought I would visually observe such m as I could and try to discover why particular stars were chosen and how s were named. So whe a look of the planet

I presumed that I would find a fairly straightforward scheme. This error was qu ickly corrected when I discovered that "Giedi Prime" and "Arrakis" were the name s of real stars as well as fictional planets. I supposed (and continue to do so) that Herbert named some planets after star s ystems in which important, but usually unspecified, historical events will have taken place. Come to think of it, someone of Muad'dib's time might wonder how a small town in Indiana and a public square in London came to have the same name as a cape in Spain: Trafalgar. Such a person might very well know what happened near the star Alpha1 Capricorni, otherwise Giedi Prime, to cause a planet to be named after it but be ignorant of Lord Nelson's victory. This appealed to my interest in the historical, more abiding still than my attra ctions to astronomy and science fiction. So it began to look like a fun project , and indeed it has been. I hope you will find the results interesting. The stars and planets discussed at length are those introduced in _Dune_ as oppo sed to the five other books of the Chronicles. Little fresh astronomical materi al was added in these later books: worlds were given names but without any attem pt to identify their location in the heavens. In the interest of thoroughness, I have listed these worlds in the section entitled "Terrae Incognitae". ****** Conventions and Source Citations: When there are identical star and planet names and the possibility of confusion exists, the star name will be preceded by an "*", and the planet name with an "@

". Thus I would write *Arrakis for Mu Draconis and @Arrakis for Dune. Sources will be given in the text except where the following either applies or s uffices for the purpose: 1. The "Terminology of the Imperium" always included with the _Dune_ text will not be cited as a source. It is the "canon" with which all interested parties a re expected (by me, at least) to be familiar. 2. Star positions given in equatorial coordinates, i.e., right ascension (RA) a nd declination (DEC), are taken from the program "Redshift3", Maris Multimedia Ltd., San Rafael, CA, precessed for the year 2000 C.E. (14200 B.G.). Visual and absolute magnitudes, distance, and spectral type are also taken from it unless o therwise noted. 3. Star positions given in galactic latitude (b) and galactic longitude (l) are my own calculations based on RA and DEC. The following symbols will be used in lieu of complete book titles: A. BM = _Breaking the Maya Code_, by Michael D. Coe (Thames & Hudson, New York, 1992). B. CD = _Children of Dune_, by Frank Herbert (Ace Books, New York, 1987). C. CH = _Burnham's Celestial Handbook_, by Robert Burnham, Jr. (Dover Publicati ons, Inc., New York, 1978), in three volumes. D. CP = _Chapterhouse: Dune_, by Frank Herbert (Ace Books, New York, 1987). E. DU = _Dune_, by Frank Herbert (Ace Books, New York, 1990). F. DE = _Dune Encyclopedia_, edited by Dr. Willis E. McNelly (Berkley Books, Ne w York, 1984). (I will often refer to this source as "the Encyclopedist". Its authority is ambiguous: all the more so given the introduction written by Frank Herbert himself. But if it did not receive his unqualified endorsement, it clea rly got his _nil obstat_.) G. EB = _Encyclopaedia Brittanica_, (William Benton, Chicago, 1959). H. EG = _The Gods of the Egyptians_, by E. A. Wallis Budge (Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1969), in two volumes. I. FS = _The Fifth Sun_, by Burr Cartwright Brundage (University of Texas Press , Austin, TX, 1979). J. GE = _God Emperor of Dune_, by Frank Herbert (Ace Books, New York, 1987). K. GG = _The Guide to the Galaxy, by Nigel Henbest and Heather Couper (Cambridg e University Press, 1994). L. GM = _The Greek Myths_, by Robert Graves (Penguin Books, Baltimore, Md., 195 5). M. GS = _The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya_, by Mary Miller a nd Karl Taube (Thames & Hudson, Inc., New York, NY, 1993). N. HD = _Heretics of Dune_, by Frank Herbert (Ace Books, New York, 1987). O. HG = _A History of Greece_, by J. B. Bury (MacMillan & Co. Ltd., New York, 1 963). P. HH = _The Henry Holt Guide to Astronomy_, by David Baker (Henry Holt & Compa ny, New York, 1990). Q. HJ = _Hobson-Jobson: The Anglo-Indian Dictionary_, by Henry Yule and A. C. B urnell (Wordsworth Editions Ltd., Ware, England). A republication of the 1886 o riginal. R. LD = _Cassell's New Latin Dictionary_, by D. P. Simpson (Funk & Wagnalls Co ., New York, 1959). S. LQ = _The Anchor Book of Latin Quotations_, by Norber Guterman (Doubleday, N ew York, 1966). T. NA = _National Audubon Society Guide to the Night Sky_, by Mark R. Chartrand (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1991). U. OZ = _The Origin of the Zodiac_, by Rupert Gleadow (Castle Books, New York, 1968). V. RA = _Rules of the Aztec Language_, by Arthur J. O. Anderson (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City Utah, 1973).

W. SC = _The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible_, by James Strong (Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tenn., 1984-first published in 1890). X. SN = _Star Names_, by Richard Hinckley Allen (Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1963). A re-publication of _Star-Names and Their Meanings_, 1899. (This book, given its status as a classic work on this subject, may very well have bee n a source-or even the source-for Frank Herbert.) Y. SU = _Supernova_, by Donald Goldsmith (Oxford University Press, 1990). The "magnitudes" shown in my star descriptions are, of course, apparent magnitud es: they give some idea as to the relative brightness of stars as seen from Eart h. Stars less than "7" are visible to the unaided eye: the smaller the number, the brighter. The "absolute magnitude" is the apparent magnitude of a star if i t were at a distance of 10 parsecs: thus it is the measure of its intrinsic brig htness. Spectral classes are based on a spectral analysis of the light from a s tar: I have equated this with "color" (red, orange, yellow-white, white, blue-wh ite, and blue). Two astronomers between 1912 and 1914 discovered that if one plotted absolute ma gnitude against spectral class distribution patterns emerged that were relative to the size of stars (dwarves, main sequence, subgiant, giants, bright giants, a nd supergiants. The sun is revealed to be among the mainsequence group with an absolute magnitude of 4.8 and a spectral type of G2 (yellow-white). Canopus (t he star of Dune) is a supergiant with an absolute magnitude of -5.53 and a spect ral type of F0 (white). My "star designations" are chosen using the common method: If Johann Bayer (1572 -1625) found the star prominent enough to assign it a Greek letter, then that de signation is used. If not, the number assigned by John Flamsteed (1646-1719) is used-where it exists. If all else fails, I use the number given in the Henry D raper Catalogue of Annie Jump Cannon, created in the early part of the twentieth century. [Please note that I did not say "this century". This document is Y2K compliant!] ****** Mapping the Imperium: "'Now', quod he thoo, 'cast up thyn y. Se yonder, loo, the Galaxie, Which men clepeth the Milky Wey, For hit ys whit (and somme parfey, Kallen hyt Watlynge Strete)...'" -Geoffrey Chaucer, "House of Fame", Book II. The important thing in appreciating the Imperium as a physical entity is to thin k on a galactic level. This is why I use "galactic coordinates", as well as the better known equatorial coordinate system, for referencing the location of cele stial objects. In the equatorial coordinate system, one essentially projects terrestrial points of reference onto an imaginary, fixed celestial sphere within which the Earth r otates. The poles and the equator thus have their celestial analogues, and the Greenwich meridian finds it equivalent at the point the sun crosses the celestia l equator at the spring equinox. Along the celestial equator, coordinates are g iven in 24 "hours" of right ascension; and from pole to pole, the coordinates ar e in "degrees" of declination, where the north pole is +90deg, the celestial equ ator 0, and the south pole -90deg. This perspective is handy for a terrestrial observer, but the earth's axis of rotation is not at right angles to the plane o f the solar system (off by 23deg26'), and the Galactic plane is inclined at abou

t 63deg to the celestial equator. Consequentially, equatorial coordinates give little immediate information about an object's position relative to the galactic disk. The Milky Way Galaxy is probably a slightly barred spiral galaxy-100,000 light y ears across-containing hundreds of billions of stars and with two major arms, th e Sagittarius Arm and the Norma Arm. (Truth to tell, some believe there are fou r or more major arms-the only incontestable features are the arm of which we are a part and the two flanking it.) The sun lies in an arm "fragment" outboard of the Sagittarius Arm called the Local Arm or, more colorfully, the Orion Arm. O utside of the Orion Arm is another arm fragment called the Perseus Arm. The sun is no closer than 25,000 light years (hereafter "ly.") to the galactic center a nd is rotating in the direction of the constellation Cygnus at 200+ km. per sec. The orbit is not circular, nor is the plane of the orbit parallel to, or copla nar with, that of the Galaxy. [GG, page 53ff.] It would be nice, of course, to give the location of stars in coordinates reflec ting this enormous object of which they are a part. Perhaps one could give this in degrees of rotation around the disk and the angle above or below the plane of the Galaxy as viewed from its center and, of course, the distance from this cen ter in light years or parsecs. Unfortunately, measurements on this scale are not all that accurate presently: for example, estimates of the solar system's dista nce from the galactic center range up to 33,000 ly., and distances between the E arth and individual stars are sometimes given widely varying values by different sources (e.g., see "Arrakis" for a discussion of the values assigned to Canopus ). It is true, of course, that the Hubbell Space Telescope and its successors w ill correct many of the errors in this data. The system referred to as "galactic coordinates" is similar to my ideal but stil l remains geocentric: the point of view chosen is the Earth itself, not the gala ctic center. (Well, Star Fleet will do no better with its Sector 0,0,1!) The angle to a star, in degrees, above (from +90deg to 0) or bel ow (from 0 to -90deg) the galactic plane is the galactic latitude (b); the degre es of rotation in the galactic plane (0 to 360deg) about the point of observatio n is the galactic longitude (l). The zero point of longitude is the direction o f the galactic center in the constellation Sagittarius. Knowing an object's galactic longitude (l), one can tell if it is "ahead" (i.e., in the direction of the solar system's galactic rotation) or "behind" us, to th e "right" (toward the galactic center) or to the "left". Deneb, for example, ha s a longitude of 84.61deg and so we are rotating toward it. Canopus has a longi tude of 261.28deg and is almost dead astern of us. A positive latitude (b) indi cates the object is above the plane (Deneb at 1.88deg is only slightly above); a nd negative latitude, below it (Canopus at -25.13deg is significantly below the galactic plane). The sun currently finds itself in proximity to three families of stars: the Hyad es, the Pleiades, and the Sirius superclusters. It did not find its origin amon gst these stars, nor even in the Orion Arm for that matter. [GG, pages 163-164] But Sirius, Alpha Canis Majoris, a blue-white main sequence star with a white d warf companion, is the brightest star in our sky and is only 8.6 light years awa y. For this reason, Isaac Asimov, that other great future historian, often and plausibly described the solar system as being in the Sirian Sector. Only a few of the stars which we will be discussing are to be found in this Siri an Sector, no matter how liberally (but reasonably) defined. On the other hand, just about all stars (but not all objects!) visible to the unaided eye lie with in a sphere of only 1600 light years radius or so-basically within the Orion Arm . [SU, pages 7-8] Since almost all the stars of _Dune_ were such stars, one is s truck by the relative compactness of the heart of the old Imperium. A point not

lost on Paul Atreides or his son. Still, even House Corrino was often said to rule the Galaxy [e.g., DE, page 343] . Was this just hyperbole? One is reminded of Princess Irulan's introduction t o the motion picture _Dune_: " . . . The known universe is ruled by the Padisha h Emperor Shaddam IV...." This echoes the words of Korba to Muad'dib, "Your leg ions control the known universe...." [DM, page 108] So how much is _known_? Leto II, however, stated flatly, "This planet of Arrakis from which I direct my multigalactic empire...." [GE, page 13] We can idly speculate if this means mo re than the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds but it clearly indicates mastery o f the Milky Way Galaxy, if not necessarily the Andromeda Galaxy and the rest of the Local Group (of galaxies). The Scattering, of course, renders the issue moot relative to the extent of mankind's spread, since this became no longer cotermi nous with the Imperium. One recalls, however, that the old Imperium will be the "Million Planets" to the Honored Matres. [CP, page 375] The God Emperor of Dune will not forgive me if I failed to mention the fourth di mension of the Imperium: TIME. As he will know only too well, we ordinary folk tend not to feel motion in this dimension except perhaps as we grow older and th en only in a limited sense. We, of course, know better. But what really are mi llennia to us, much less ages-given our own brevity? I have accepted the time line presented in the _Dune Encyclopedia_, by which thi s year of 1998 C.E. is 14202 B.G. (i.e., "before Guild"). One must point out th at this time line does contain at least one egregious error: the date of the Spa nish Armada (against the English kingdom of Elizabeth I) is given as 14512 B.G., and the first use of atomics, as 14255 B.G. [DE, page vii] This indicates the re was an interval of 257 years. In fact the interval is 357 years (1945-1588=3 57). Before attempting to explain away this apparent error, one should be aware that the interval shown between Christopher Columbus's first voyage and the Arm ada is correct (1588-1492=96 years, 14608-14512=96 years). [Ibid.] Little is said by Herbert himself to establish a firm time line between now and then. He does refer in his appendix on the religion of Dune to "mankind's move ment through deep space . . . during the one hundred and ten centuries that prec eded the Butlerian Jihad". [DU, page 501] Since the _Dune Encyclopedia_ links the start of the Jihad to the year 200 B.G., one looks with interest to what its timeline shows for the year 11200 B.G. For that year it lists "the Empire of a Thousand Worlds". When one considers th e entry for the preceding century: "the Empire of the 10 Worlds"-the spread of mankind into deep space is clearly indicated. [DE, page vii] 11200 B.G. will be three millennia after our own time, the year 5000 C.E., a three thousand-year i nterval that depends on the _Dune Encyclopedia_ alone for its authority. Let us, however, refresh our perspective: This mere "three millennia" before the true Dune timeline even begins is approximately the extent of time between King David of Israel and Judah and today. The putative length of the Zensunni Wande ring was even longer-about 4200 years, the time that separates us from Egypt's O ld Kingdom. And the time from now until the Kwisatz Haderach? Such an expanse, projected backward, would take us back before the beginnings of civilization, be fore the last retreat of the glaciers. I can almost feel the "winds of time" r uffling my hair! (The most distant future event I have found mentioned in the D une Chronicles is the ten thousandth anniversary of the metamorphosis of Leto II -about 35,000 years from now! [HD, page 72] ) ************

Part Two: The Zensunni Wandering "Oh, the landscapes I have seen! And the people! The far wanderings of the Fre men and all the rest of it. Even back through the mists to Terra. Oh, the lesso ns in astronomy and intrigue, the migrations, the disheveled flights, the leg-ac hing and lung-aching runs through so many nights on all of those cosmic specks w here we have defended our transient possession." -The Stolen Journals (of Leto II), _God Emperor of Dune_, page 31 ****** A. Origin: Old Earth "The conquests which began with Assur-nasir-apli carried arms into Media and lat er into Israel, Damascus, Edom, Arpad, Babylon and Umlias. Does anyone remember these names and places now? I have given you enough clues: Try to name the pla net." -The Stolen Journals (of Leto II), _God Emperor of Dune_, page 131 By the "Zensunni Wanderers" I mean those followers of the sect of Ali Ben Ohashi whose original home was "Nilotic al-Ourouba" [DU, page 351] and whose direct de scendants were the Fremen of Dune. That this home was on the planet Old Earth i s beyond question, even if one does not accept the detailed account offered by t he _Dune Encyclopedia_ and despite the Zensunnis' own confusion in this regard. (See "Poritrin".) It is clear that they had a close connection with Egypt. "Nilotic" is obviously from the Latin adjective Niloticus, meaning "of, or related to, the Nile River" . [LD, page 393] More definitive still is that fact that they refer to themsel ves as the "Misr". Considering that the ancient Hebrew name for the Egyptians i s Mizriy and for Egypt Mizrayim (and Arabic similarly has Masri and Blad Masr) , I believe the burden of proof is on those who disagree. [SC, "Hebrew and Chal dee Dictionary", page 71] (There are further Egyptian allusions, see "Harmonthe p" and "Arrakis" below.) Their language (Arabic dialect) and the Islamic derivation of their religion rei nforce the point. Indeed, the relative purity of their Arabic after 25,000 year s seemed to be problematic enough to require an elaborate explanation in the _Du ne Encyclopedia_ [DE, pages 238-242]. One should compare this to the vast chang es to English insofar as it contributed to Galach, the official language of the Imperium [DE, pages 239 and 258-261]. By the time of Muad'dib the Earth will have probably been destroyed, foreshadowi ng perhaps the fate of Dune. I have found some resistance to this notion and of fer the following in support of it: 1. "St. Thomas was preserved in the Orange Catholic Bible and the Azhar Book, b ut Canterbury was gone from the memories of men, as was the planet which had kno wn it." [CD, page 238] 2. From the Stolen Journals (of Leto II): "This morning I was born in a _yurt_ at the edge of a horse-plain in a land of a planet which no longer exists." [I talics are Herbert's, GE, page 5] _Yurt_ is a Mongolian word for a type of tent . [EB, vol. XV, page 710] 3. Speaking of the Chapterhouse Planet, Darwi Odrade said: "Each planet has it s own character where we draw patterns of Old Earth. Sometimes it is only a fai nt sketch, but here we have succeeded. ...Our ancestral worlds have gone, but h ere we have recaptured part of our origins." [CP, page 15]

4. Odrade further observed, "Tyrant, you were another clown. Pointing us into endless recycling of cells from that lost and lonely ball of dirt in our common past." [CP, page 139] One should not, however, confuse this theoretical eschaton with the Encyclopedis t's catastrophic event of 13402 B.G. caused by an asteroid striking Earth. [DE, page vii] For one thing, the Zensunni sect was not founded until about 1381 B. G. For another, Old Earth was the meeting site of the Commission of Ecumenical Translators, sponsored in part by the Spacing Guild and Bene Gesserit-hence to b e dated after their founding. [DU, page 502] Earth will still be a viable plan et at the beginning of the Imperium. One supposes that the catastrophe of 13402 B.G. was conceived as a method to exp lain why Earth did not retain its ascendancy or at least its place of honor. (A simov similarly used the growing radioactivity of the Earth as a device in his R obot-Empire-Foundation series.) Looking forward to the famous satellites of Dune, one should perhaps take note t hat people have seen various images on the face of Earth's moon besides the "old man": a hare being rather commonly mentioned from classical times on. [SN, pag es 266-268] (But one finds no mouse!) Star System Data for Old Earth: [All from NA, pages 627 and 641-667] Star Designation: Sol Spectral Type: G2 V (Yellow-White, Main Sequence) Magnitude: -26.7 (Don't look!) Absolute Magnitude: 4.8 Major Planets (with average distance in km. and astronomical units): I. Mercury (57,910,000 km. = 0.3871 a.u.) II. Venus (108,2000,000 km. = 0.7233 a.u.) III. (Old) Earth (149,597,870 km. = 1 a.u. by definition) IV. Mars (227,940,000 km. = 1.5237 a.u.) V. Jupiter (778.330,000 km. = 5.2028 a.u.) VI. Saturn (1,426,980,000 km. = 9.5388 a.u.) VII. Uranus (2,870,990,000 km. = 19.1914 a.u.) VIII. Neptune (4,497,070,000 km. = 30.0611 a.u.) IX. Pluto (5,913,520,000 km. = 39.5294 a.u.) Planetary Data: [All from NA, page 648, except as noted] Designation: Sol III Common Name: (Old) Earth, Terra. Diameter: 12,756 km. Density: 5.52 g/cm3 Gravity: 9.8 m./sec2 Sidereal Period: 365.242 days = 1.002 (Imperial) Standard Years [HD, page 36] Satellite Data: [All from NA, page 634] Name: Moon, Luna, inter alia. Ave. Distance from planet: 384,400 km. Diameter: 3,476 km. Density: 3.34 Gravity: 1.67 m./sec2 Sidereal Period: 27.322 days Magnitude: -12.7 (full moon).

****** B. The First Stop: Poritrin The Zensunni either fled [DU, page 351] or were removed from Earth [DE, page 512 ]. The latter was supposed to have happened about 2800 A.G. In either scenario, they ended up on Poritrin, the third planet of "Epsilon Alan gue", where they enjoyed a relatively soft existence on a pleasant planet. This so-called decadence supposedly made them easy prey for Imperial raiders seeking colonists with which to populate Salusa Secundus and Bela Tegeuse. [DU, page 3 58.] On the other hand, their long-over 1600 years-and happy stay, remembered from th e perspective of such a different future, led some to confuse Poritrin with thei r true point of origin, Earth. The meaning of the planetary name I do not know. The designation of its star is interesting in that it reveals that Herbert occasionally used variant, obscure names for constellations: Alangue is a corruption of an Arab name, Al Hawwa, for the constellation Ophiuchus and sometimes for its alpha star, normally called R as Alhague. [SN, pages 299-301] This, incidentally, puts Poritrin in the same constellation as @Giedi Prime and Sikun. More such alternative names will come up. Why he used such variants is uncertai n. Perhaps it was just to show that such irregularities would multiply over lon g stretches of time. One remembers the complaint of the Princess Wensicia, when part of the name of Salusa Secundus was elided in her presence: "This is the p lanet Salusa Secundus. Do not fall into the lazy ways which spread through our Imperium. Full name, complete title-attention to every detail." [CD, page 51] As Epsilon Ophiuchi, this star actually has a common name of its own: Yed Poster ior or "the following hand." Some have claimed it is a star of evil influence. [SN, page 302.] Further will be said of the constellation Ophiuchus under "Gie di Prime". Star System Data for Poritrin: Star Designation: Epsilon Ophiuchi (Alangue) Star Name: Yed Posterior Equatorial Coordinates: RA=16:18:17, DEC=-4deg41'26" Galactic Coordinates: b=30.21deg, l=8.89deg Distance from Old Earth: 107.5 ly. Spectral Type: G8 III (Yellow, Giant) Magnitude: 3.23 Absolute Magnitude: 0.64 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. Poritrin ****** C. The Second Stop: Salusa Secundus "My father has told me of Salusa Secundus. Do you know, Thufir, it sounds much like Arrakis...perhaps not quite as bad, but much like it." -Paul Atreides, _Dune_, page 32.

Half the Zensunni of Poritrin were forced to migrate to Salusa Secundus in 4492 A.G. [DE, page 513] They were to be slaves on this planet for nine generations . Salusa Secundus was a planet of such harshness that it was capable of producing the Sardaukar soldier-fanatics of the Corrino emperors and, indeed, the House Co rrino itself. The Imperial Court had, of course, long been removed to Kaitain (1 487 A.G. [ibid.]) and Salusa Secundus turned into a prison planet. As such, thi s hellish place contributed its share to the evolution of the Fremen of Dune and the Fedaykin of Muad'dib as well. Salusa Secundus and Dune were in fact analogous: as Salusa Secundus was to the S audaukar and House Corrino; so Dune, to the Fremen of the Jihad and House Atreid es. Knowing this, we understand more than most will grasp in the time of Shaddam IV. In fact, it will be a dangerous secret. Thufir Hawat asked the question, "Wer e there people on Salusa Secundus before the Emperor sent his first contingent o f prisoners there? Even the Duke Leto, a cousin on the distaff side, never knew for sure." [DU, page 377] He was but trying to lead the Baron Harkonnen into drawing the proper conclusions about the role this planet had played in Galactic history and understanding how badly the baron had erred in his interview with C ount Fenring two years before. In 5295 A.G., the Zensunni were allowed to emigrate to Ishia. [DE, page 514] Its planetary name clearly implies that, like @Giedi Prime and @Arrakis, Salusa Secundus was named after a star. Secundus (Latin for "second") is a term sometim es used with the lesser of the two components of a binary star. One would expec t a "Salusa Prime" somewhere. On the surface of it, salusa appears to be a Latin noun, such as nauta, which ta kes the masculine gender but is in a normally feminine declension. Thus it has an "-a" ending itself, while its adjective, secundus, has the normal masculine " -us" ending. There is a Latin noun salus, meaning "healthful"-nice irony, that! -but is a feminine noun of another declension. ...And Herbert knew his Latin. It is true, however, that the constellation Aries was known among the Jews as Sh alish (variant Shalisha), the name of some sort of musical instrument. [SN, pag e 82.] Herbert was aware of this, for the planet Chusuk (q.v.) is said to circl e Theta Shalish. Now Gamma Arietis is a well-known binary star and one of the earliest to be disc overed (1664 C.E.). [CH, v. I, page 249.] Gamma2 Arietis is a star with a mag nitude of 3.88 at about 204.4 ly. distance. If this can be taken to be (Gamma) Shalisha Secundus, then we possibly have our namesake for @Salusa Secundus. The re is other evidence that Herbert truncated names in this fashion, no doubt to t he outrage of the Princess Wensicia, for example, Eridani A. (See "Ix and Riche se".) Salusa Secundus is the third planet of "Gamma Waiping". Waiping (or Wae Ping, a "rolled screen") is a variant Chinese name for part of the constellation Pisces . [SN, page 343.] This indicates that Herbert not only used variant names for constellations, but also sometimes used names that applied to some asterism with in the constellation to describe the whole-a form of synecdoche. The continued use of the Bayer designation-especially when, as in this case, a star with that Greek letter does not lie within the asterism itself-shows that the entire const ellation is intended.

One may also note that Herbert makes reference to the "golden light" of Salusa S ecundus. [CD, page 179] This is, at least, not in contradiction to the spectra l type of Gamma Piscium. Pisces, the Fish, is a zodiacal sign. The constellation is now where the Sun is found at the Vernal Equinox, the precession of the equinoxes having deprived Ar ies of that honor it held during ancient times. Interestingly, the Greek myth about Pisces tells how Aphrodite and her son Eros escaped the giant Typhon by jumping into a stream, turning into fish, and swimmi ng away. [NA, page 577] Now I once read a story about how a mother and son wil l someday flee from an evil baron by disappearing into the desert, becoming one with the natives, and make good their escape. Star System Data for Salusa Secundus: Star Designation: Gamma Piscium (Waiping) Star Name: None Equatorial Coordinates: RA=23:17:09, DEC=3deg16'52" Galactic Coordinates: b=-52.16deg, l=83.58deg Distance from Old Earth: 130.9 ly. Spectral Type: G7 III (Yellow, Giant) Magnitude: 3.7 Absolute Magnitude: 0.68 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. Salusa Secundus ****** D. The Third Stop: Bela Tegeuse "Life was full with happiness until the raiders came." --from a Fremen ritual, _Dune_, page 399. Although called the "Third Stop" of the Zensunni, Bela Tegeuse is the alternate destination for those Zensunni spared from going to Salusa Secundus. [DU, page 358] The planet was an acceptable home for them for eight centuries. Yet, despite an attempt at resistance, the Sardaukar removed them in 6049 A.G. to two new colon ies, Rossak and Harmonthep. [DE, page 514] Dama, the Great Honored Matre, later mentioned Bela Tegeuse in a list of conquer ed worlds. [CP, page 223] The name of Bela Tegeuse is a barely disguised, if slightly corrupted, anagram o f one of the most famous stars of all, Betelgeuse, i.e., Alpha Orionis. The nam e Betelgeuse has been read as a corruption of the Arabic Ibt al Jauzah ("Armpit of the Central One") [SN, page 310] or as Bet El Jeuze ("House of the Twins"). [NA, page 563] The latter name would imply it was once included in the neighbor ing constellation Gemini. It is a variable red giant of about 0.45 magnitude an d 427.5 ly. distance. It is one of the largest stars of known diameter: at its maximum it may be larger than the orbit of Jupiter! [CH, v. II, page 1290] Bela Tegeuse is said to be the fifth planet of Kuentsing, which is Chinese for " army well". Allen identifies it as being a star in the vicinity of Alpha Lepori s or Arneb-more than that he does not and, presumably, could not say. [SN, page 268] This constellation is at the foot of Orion, that is, below the stars Saip

h and Rigel. Since Allen puts this information under Arneb and since the other 7 bright stars in Lepus (65-315 ly. away, magnitudes 2.8-3.8) offer little to choose between them, I will assign Bela Tegeuse to the alpha star of the constellation. The name means the "hare" from the Arabic name for the constellation Lepus, whos e name is but Latin for the same thing. Arneb has several faint companions. It is more than interesting that both the hare seen on Earth's moon and the muad 'dib (i.e., the kangaroo mouse of Dune) seen on the Second Moon of Arrakis have a constellation named after them. (See "Old Earth" and "Arrakis".) Star System Data for Bela Tegeuse: Star Designation: Alpha Leporis A Star Name: Arneb (Kuentsing?) Equatorial Coordinates: RA=5:32:44, DEC=-17deg49'30" Galactic Coordinates: b=-24.64, l=221.14 Distance from Old Earth: 1284.1ly. Spectral Type: F0 Ib (White, Supergiant) Magnitude: 2.58 Absolute Magnitude: -5.34 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. ? IV. ? V. Bela Tegeuse ****** E. The Fourth Stop: Ishia The Zensunni from Salusa Secundus were allowed to immigrate to Ishia. This was a hot, arid planet, whose desert ecology helped prepare the Fremen-to-be for Arr akis. The immigration to Dune occurred before the descendants of the Bela Tegeu se Zensunni also arrived there in 7193 A.G. [DE, page 516] I cannot find confirmation of any of this in the text of _Dune_. I would surmis e that Ishia was supplied by the _Dune Encyclopedia_ to fill in a gap in the dat a supplied by Herbert: only Poritrin, Salusa Secundus, Bela Tegeuse, Rossak, and Harmonthep are mentioned as stops of the Zensunni, but Salusa Secundus is calle d the second stop and Harmonthep, the sixth. It may be that Herbert actually gave the "missing" planetary name: Leto II remar ks that he "can even remember when we Fremen were on Thurgrod." [CD, page 114] Could the Encyclopedist have overlooked this and invented his own name, Ishia? Ishia, whose name is of unknown significance, is supposed to be the second plane t of Beta Tygri. [DE, page 314] But there is no such constellation. "Tigris" can be an alternate name for the constellation Lynx. [SN, pages 279-280 ] I did not find, however, a Beta Lyncis! Most references show only an alpha s tar. One states that "only one star has a Greek-letter name from Johann Bayer's 1603 atlas". [NA, page 543] Such being the case I considered that the constellation Sagittarius was sometime s called the "Tiger" in China. [SN, page 356] As shown in these pages, Herbert

often used Chinese names, but did the Encyclopedist follow this methodology? I f so then Beta Sagittarii would perhaps be Ishia's star. This is an optical binary, i.e., two unrelated stars that happen to line up when viewed from our galactic position. Beta1 is a 3.96 magnitude star, spectral ty pe B9 V. Beta2 is a 4.27 magnitude star, spectral type F2 III, about 138.7 ly f rom Earth. But then I discovered that someone, at least, did use Greek-letter names beside "alpha" for the stars of Lynx: An astronomy professor by the name of Young is qu oted as referring to "38, or Rho Lyncis"! [SN, page 280]. Finally I found a ref erence showing the star HD58661 as Beta Lyncis! [HH, page 119] Did the Encyclopedist know that such existed? Considering the choice made for R ossak's star [see below], was there actually intent to employ plausible sounding , but unused names? If that were the case, then he erred here. The constellation is not prominent: the standard joke is that one must have the eyes of a lynx to make it out. The comment is attributed to Johannes Hevelius ( 1611-1687), a Polish astronomer. [SN, page 280]. (Scholarly jests die hard.) Star System Data for Ishia: Star Designation: HD58661, Beta Lyncis (Tygri) Star Name: None Equatorial Coordinates: RA=7:48:52, DEC=48deg10'54" Galactic Coordinates: b=26.45deg, l=170.18deg Distance from Old Earth: 410 ly. Spectral Type: B9 (Blue) Magnitude: 5.7 Absolute Magnitude: 0.20 Known Planets: I. ? II. Ishia ****** F. The Fifth Stop: Rossak A part of the Zensunni of Bela Tegeuse was sent to colonize Rossak, a cold and i nhospitable world that is the fifth planet of Alces Minor. [DE, page 514] It w ill be, however, the site of an important discovery: by use of an indigenous, po isonous plant, their Sayyadinas will be able to become Reverend Mothers and gain access to the collective memories of their ancestors. [DU, page 359] In 7193 A.G., the Rossak Zensunni were able to bribe the Spacing Guild to transp ort the younger generation to rejoin their long-lost Ishian cousins already on D une. [DE, page 515-516] No doubt all this suited the Guild's plan to gain more control over Arrakis and, of course, the yet more convoluted machinations of th e Bene Gesserit. I do not know the origin of Rossak's name. Its star, Alces Minor, is also a bit of a mystery. There is an Alkes, the alpha star of the constellation Crater. Both words mean "cup": the former in Arabic (Al Kas), the latter in Greek. [SN, page 183-184] One may also note that there is a basin on the Temple Platform at Jerusalem by t his name-Al Kas. (Do not consider this association too far-fetched: the Shrine of the Skull at Harg Pass will be called "El Kuds", an Arabic title for Jerusale m meaning "the Holy Place". [DM, page 114] )

Normally "minor" would be used to describe the lesser of a pair of stars, e.g., Pherkad Major and Pherkad Minor in Ursa Minor. But no such name seems to have b een attached to a star close to Alkes. (Perhaps using a fictional name was a co nscious choice of the Encyclopedist.) It has two optical companions, but they a re not naked-eye stars: indeed, their magnitudes are greater than 9. These are designated HD95424 and HD95383. (A third star, HD95384, is at a very great distance and is not under consideration.) The latter of these has a spect ral class of F2 (White), whereas the former is a G0 (Yellow-white) and presumabl y cooler. Thus HD95424 is a better choice for a star "that appeared to clutch m uch of its heat to itself". [DE, page 513] Beyond that, it is at a comparable distance (181.2 ly.) to Alkes (174.3 ly.). HD95383 is at a distance of 85.2 ly. Thus HD95424 is my admittedly conjectural candidate for Alces Minor. One could, of course, hypothesize an as yet unseen companion of Alkes. Obviousl y its characteristics would be unknown. But whether one conceives of the design ation "minor" being assigned in the future to a presently known or unknown star, it seems unlikely that this somewhat antique naming style would be used. One w ould expect Alkes A and B, rather than Alkes Major and Minor. Star System Data for Rossak: Star Designation: HD95424 Star Name: None (Alces Minor?) Equatorial Coordinates: RA=11:00:44, DEC=-18deg21'54" Galactic Coordinates: b=37.25deg, l=270.14deg Distance from Old Earth: 181.2 ly. Spectral Type: G0 (Yellow-white) Magnitude: 9.07 Absolute magnitude: 5.35 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. ? IV. ? V. Rossak ****** G. The Sixth Stop: Harmonthep The majority of the Zensunni of Bela Tegeuse were sent to Harmonthep, a satellit e of the star Delta Pavonis. This planet was destroyed by an unknown cause in t he 6800's A.G. [DE, page 516] There is a mystery here, beside the obvious. Given its proximity to Caladan, an attractive planet in the same star system, how could Harmonthep be destroyed by unknown causes? Surely the future home of the Atreides had been developed no l ater than Harmonthep! And even we of this primitive century did not fail to obs erve a comet colliding with another satellite of Sol, much less a planet shatter ing event! Its name is interesting, suggesting an ancient Egyptian origin: Heru-Monthu-hote p, i.e., "(the god) Horus-Mentu is satisfied". Two elements of this are found i n a common regnal name of the Theban XIth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom: "Mentu hotep". Two likewise are found in the Greek name for the city in Upper Egypt pr operly called Annu-Qemat or Annu-Rest: "Hermonthis". Mentu or Monthu was a haw k-headed war god important in the nome of Uast, which contained not only Hermont his, but the great Thebes as well. [EG, v. I, page 328, v. II, page 24]

Now both the Egyptian names of Hermonthis mean "Annu of the South" to distinguis h it from the Annu of Lower Egypt, called "Heliopolis" by the Greeks. Readers o f the Dune Chronicles will be more familiar with the Hebrew form of the Egyptian name: "On". [Ibid.] It was obvious that the name of Leto II's "festival city" Onn was a form of "Ann u", and I immediately connected it with Heliopolis, recalling the solar and "pha raonic" associations Leto II made with his "Golden Path." [CD, pages 78-79, 398 ; GE, pages 41, 127] He even supplied the ancient Egyptian for "Golden Path": S echer Nbiw. (This Egyptian phrase was used as the key to unlock Ghanima's memor y of Leto's survival.) The possible allusion to the Harmonthep tragedy, to Annu of the South and Thebes , and to the XIth Dynasty was a little less obvious. One must, of course, remem ber that Leto was half-Fremen and remembered everything! There will be further discussion of Delta Pavonis at a more appropriate point. (See "Caladan".) Star System Data for Harmonthep: Star Designation: Delta Pavonis Star Name: None Equatorial Coordinates: RA=20:08:38, DEC=-66deg11'01" Galactic Coordinates: b=-32.89deg, l=329.88deg Distance from Old Earth: 19.9 ly. Spectral Type: G5 V (Yellow-white, Main Sequence) Magnitude: 3.55 Absolute Magnitude: 4.62 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. Caladan ? Harmonthep ************ Part Three: Miscellanea Imperii "Humans have this deep desire to classify, to apply labels to everything. ...Th at way we lay claim to what we name. ...My street, my lake, my planet, my label forever." --Darwi Odrade, _Chapterhouse: Dune_, page 17. ****** A. Chusuk: The Music Planet "Now some of the she-donkeys of Saul's father Kish had strayed, so Kish said to Saul, 'My son, take one of the servants and be off; go and look for the she-donk eys.' They passed through the highlands of Ephraim and passed through the land of Shalishah, but did not find them . ...So they went up to the town, and as th ey were going through the gate, Samuel came out in their direction on his way to the high place. ...When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh told him, 'That is the man of w hom I told you; he shall rule my people.'" -First Book of Samuel, Chapter Nine, Verses 3,4,14,17

Chusuk will be known for the quality of its musical instruments. Varota, a famo us maker of balisets, will be a native of this planet. It is also said that Gurney Halleck will come from Chusuk, his family being one of its Houses Minor. He will be captured during a Harkonnen raid in 10155 A.G. and taken to the slave pits of Giedi Prime. [DE, page 282] As is well known, h e will be rescued from Giedi Prime by a later Atreides counter-raid. Chusuk is the fourth planet of Theta Shalish. As I have already explained under the entry for Salusa Secundus, "Shalish" was the name of a Jewish musical instr ument: some sort of triangle or three-stringed lute, for the Hebrew word means " triple". [SC, page 117 of the "Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary"] I have no idea if Herbert was aware that Shalisha was also the name of a place i n ancient Palestine and that the only time it was mentioned was in the passage q uoted above, a passage depicting the "recognition" of another god-sent deliverer . Given the intricate webs Herbert liked to weave, it would not surprise me if I were to find that he had been cognizant of it. "Shalish" was a name applied to the constellation Aries, so I have interpreted T heta Shalish as Theta Arietis. Aries is, of course, one of the zodiacal signs a nd was associated by the Greeks with the ram from which the Golden Fleece was ta ken. It was once, during ancient times, the constellation in which the Vernal E quinox occurred: now this happens in Pisces and, as was once eagerly noted in so ng, will eventually happen in Aquarius as the equinoxes precess. Star System Data: Star Designation: Theta Arietis (Shalish) Star Name: None Equatorial Coordinates: RA=2:18:7, DEC=19deg54'1'' Galactic Coordinates: b=-38.01deg, l=149.9deg Distance from Old Earth: 387.4 ly. Spectral Type: A1 IV (Blue-white, Subgiant) Magnitude: 5.58 Absolute Magnitude: 0.21 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. ? IV. Chusuk ****** B. Corrin Corrin was above all else the name of the space battle near the star Sigma Draco nis in 88 B.G. which brought the predecessors of Shaddam IV to the imperial thro ne. It is said that the victor was one Count Sheuset Ecevit, who took the regna l name of Sheuset Corrino in remembrance of the battle. [DE, page 168] It was in this battle that Abulurd Harkonnen, the lineal ancestor of the evil Ba ron we love to hate, disgraced himself by an act of cowardice. Others assert th at it was in fact an act of treachery. [Ibid.] It may be that the House Atreid es was first distinguished here by the heroics of Demetrios Atriedes. [op. cit. , page 56] The battle will take its name from a quasi-nebula that was in turn named after t he nearby planet Corrin. This quasi-nebula had resulted from the collision of a

planetoid with a sub-stellar companion of Sigma Draconis. [op. cit., page 169] One finds, incidentally, that there were two ancient battles fought at Coroneia in mainland Greece on the road from Thebes to Phocis: The first in 447 B.C.E. s aw the defeat of the Athenians by the Boeotians; the second in 394 B.C.E., the n ominal victory of Agesilaus II, King of Sparta, over the Thebans and their allie s. In the latter battle, Xenophon and others of the legendary Ten Thousand foug ht on the Spartan side. [HG, pages 301 and 544] Sigma Draconis is relatively close to Old Earth (18.8 ly.)-one might say, in the Sirian Sector. It is interesting that this battle took place so close to manki nd's birthplace. The star name of Alsafi is taken from the Arabic Athafiyy, "co oking tripods". [SN, page 212] (Are we to be reminded of the Death Tripod of t he desert executioner?) It is part of the constellation Draco, the "dragon", which is associated with th e obvious mythical monsters, including Tiamat and the dragon which guarded the G olden Fleece. [NA, pages 511-512] The alpha star of Draco, called "Thuban", was the Pole Star 4000 years ago (the honor now belonging to Polaris, thanks to the wobble of the Earth's axis). As s uch, it may have been to this star that the ancient Egyptians aligned some of th eir temples and pyramids. [Ibid.] Furthermore, the Chinese regarded the stars that revolved around the celestial North Pole and the Pole Star as the heavenly equivalent of their own terrestrial "Middle Kingdom", centered on the Emperor. [OZ, page 88] Perhaps this is why Herbert placed the epochal space battle here. The *Arrakis is also in this constellation, and the Atreides may have their hist orical origins (ignoring their Homeric genealogical claim) in the Mockmuhl clust er near Upsilon Draconis. [DE, page 56] And as will be explained, Gamont and Gr umman also revolve about a star in Draco. The Encyclopedist informs us of another planet of Sigma Draconis: Ishkal. The language of this planet provided the word "shai-hulud" to the Zensunni ancestors of the Fremen-originally it stood for an extinct but formidable vermiform creat ure native to Ishkal. [DE, page 236] Since it is not mentioned in the Dune Chr onicles, I have not listed it separately but note its putative existence here. Star System Data: Star Designation: Sigma Draconis Star Name: Alsafi Equatorial Coordinates: RA=19:32:18, DEC=69deg39'47'' Galactic Coordinates: b=21.94deg, l=101.41deg Distance from Old Earth: 18.8 ly. Spectral Type: K0 V (Orange, Main Sequence) Magnitude: 4.67 Absolute Magnitude: 5.87 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. ? IV. Ishkal ? Corrin ****** C. Delta Kaising III

This planet, along with Salusa Secundus, is the source of shigawire. I am unable to identify a constellation called (apparently in Chinese) "Kai Sing ". There is a Kien Sing, an asterism in Sagittarius. It is unknown if it was i ntended ****** D. Ecaz: The Sculptor's Paradise "Men and their works have been a disease on the surface of their planets before now." -from the dying thoughts of Liet-Kynes , _Dune_, page 275 Ecaz is called the "Sculptor's Paradise" because it is home to fogwood, a plant that can be shaped by thought alone. It is also called the "Greenhouse Planet" because of its bizarre biological products in general. [DE, page 196] It in fa ct offers a pharmacopoeia of narcotics: elacca drug, semuta, verite, and even s apho (the mentat's drug of choice). This is said to have come about because the planet was "slagged", i.e., made the object of an all-out assault with atomics, in 7033 B.G. The contaminated plane t was left uninhabited for thousands of years, during which time mutation ran ri ot. [op.cit., pages 196-197] Ecaz is the fourth planet of Alpha Centauri B. As such it is a part of the near est star system to Old Earth (any putative Nemesis excepted!) and the third brig htest star in our night sky. It consists of an A and B star, a fact discovered as early as 1689, with a distant companion called Proxima, discovered in 1915. The last is so called because it is the nearest to Earth of the three. The orbi tal period of A and B is about 80 years. [CH, v. I, pages 549-550] If one were to view Sol from this star system, it would be a first magnitude sta r in Perseus, near the border of that constellation and Cassiopeia. [op.cit., p age 550] This proximity to Earth makes it highly unlikely, in my opinion, that the planet will not be discovered until the Encyclopedia's date of 8112 B.G. [DE, page 1 96] (One may also note that the planetary name is always misspelled as "Ecas" i n the entry for "Elaccawood" in the "Terminology of the Imperium" appended to _D une_.) Alpha Centauri is called Rigel Kent from Al Rijl al Kentaurus, "hoof of the Cent aur" in Arabic. [SN, page 152] The constellation Centaur, of which it is a par t, is mythically interpreted as the centaur Chiron, so wise that he was tutor to Jason, Achilles, Heracles, and Aesclapius. [NA, page 475] The Encyclopedist mentions that the third planet of Alpha Centauri B will be cal led Logi. It is said to be the birthplace of Thufir Hawat. [DE, page 299] Star System Data: Star Designation: Alpha Centauri B Star Name: Rigel Kent Equatorial Coordinates: RA=14:39:34, DEC=-60deg49'44" Galactic Coordinates: b=-1.06deg, l=316.07deg Distance from Old Earth: 4.4 ly. Spectral Type: K1 V (Orange, Main Sequence) Magnitude: 1.35

Absolute Magnitude: 5.70 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. Logi IV. Ecaz ****** E. Galacia "Oh-h-h, the Galacian girls Will do it for pearls, And the Arrakeen for water! But if you desire dames Like consuming flames, Try a Caladanin daughter!" -"Galacian Girls", sung by Gurney Halleck, _Dune_, page 34 Other than this female preference for pearls (surely not exclusive), I find noth ing else about this planet in the Chronicles. There is a region in Poland on the northern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains c alled Galicia. A better prospect in view of Herbert's classical interests is th e region of northwestern Spain known as Galicia to us but as Gallaecia to the Ro mans. [EB, "Galicia", vol. IX, page 975] Spanish Galicia is a region of mineral wealth, and Pliny mentions a precious sto ne _gemma Gallaecia_. [Ibid.] It is, of course, not a source of pearls. ****** F. Gamont: The Pleasure Planet "Who's that knocking at my door?" "Who's that knocking at my door?" "Who's that knocking at my door?" Said the fair young maiden. "D'ye ken me still, I'm Barnacle Bill, O' the 'Rakis Royal Navy. And here I stand, come from 'neath the sand, With the 'Rakis Royal Navy." --A Ditty from Gamont, _Dune Encyclopedia_, page 263. Gamont is the third planet of the star Niushe and will be known for its hedonist ic culture. While the Encyclopedist makes it all seem rather innocent by his am using reference to the above survival-old even in our own time!-and his entry un der this subject in general, one should recall that Baron Harkonnen purchased a boy from Gamont for his pleasure and had him drugged into submission. [DU, page 186] Dama, the Great Honored Matre, later mentioned Gamont in a list of conquered pla nets. One can be assured that the Honored Matres found this world a delicious c onquest! [CP, page 223] Niushe is the Chinese name for Psi Draconis and means "Palace Governess" or "Lit

erary Woman". The ordinary name for this star, Dsiban, is a corruption of the Ar abic Al Dhibain, meaning the "Hyenas", an asterism the Arabs saw in this and sur rounding stars. [SN, page 212] For discussion of the constellation Draco, see "Corrin" and "Arrakis". Actually Psi Draconis is a binary star whose components are 30" apart. I am ass ociating Niushe with the primary star of the two. Star System Data: Star Designation: Psi1 Draconis Star Name: Dsiban (Niushe) Equatorial Coordinates: RA=17:41:52, DEC=72deg08'57" Galactic Coordinates: b=31.11deg, l=102.95deg Distance from Old Earth: 71.9 ly. Spectral Type: F5 IV (White, Subgiant) Magnitude: 4.57 Absolute Magnitude: 2.85 Known Planets: I. ? II. Grumman III. Gamont ****** G. Grumman Grumman is the second planet of Niushe and the home planet of House Moritani, wh o fought and defeated the House Ginaz in a war of assassins. The House Ginaz will be an ally of the Atreides; and Duncan Idaho (the Original) , their Swordmaster. Their defeat in 10181 was a prelude to the disaster on Dun e ten years later. [DE, pages 501-502] It is believed that Grumman will be the native planet of Nayla, the Fish Speaker whose loyalty Leto II so cruelly twisted to consummate his sacrifice. [DE, pag e 396] The planetary name may have been suggested by the name for Xi Draconis: Grumium, meaning "jaw (of the dragon)". [SN, page 211] For comments on the star and co nstellation, see "Corrin", "Gamont", and "Arrakis". Star System Data: See Star System Data for "Gamont". ****** H. Hagal: The Jewel Planet Called the "Jewel Planet" from the gem mining that will take place there, Hagal' s mines were mostly exhausted by the time of Shaddam I. The throne of Shaddam I Vwas made from a single piece of Hagal quartz. [DU, page 457] Not to be outdon e, Paul Muad'dib had his throne cut from a single Hagal emerald. [DM, page 134but Hagal here is misspelled "Hagar".] According to the Encylopedist, Shaddam I's reign was from 482 to 553 A.G., with a hiatus in 548-549. [DE, page 200] It is also said that Duncan Idaho (the Ori ginal) was sent to a Harkonnen slave labor camp on Hagal after the defeat of Hou

se Ginaz. [op. cit., page 318] A low-tech mining operation in a location consi dered "played out" for nine thousand years seems a bit unlikely, even for the gr eedy Harkonnens-but there you have it! If some future interplanetary prospector wished to get there before the Corrinos and Harkonnens, he would find that the locale is unfortunately a bit uncertain. Hagal is supposed to be "II Theta Shaowei". Shaou Wei is Chinese, meaning the "Minor Guard". This name or similar is attached to two individual stars: Beta Cephei and Chi Ursae Majoris. [SN, pages 158 and 445] We are, of course, looki ng for a constellation or, at least, an asterism. Camelopardalis is supposed to contain an asterism called Shaou Wei, but Bayer designations are not commonly u sed in this constellation after Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. [op. cit., page 107] T here is a region in Leo, toward Virgo, which was sometimes called by the name. [op. cit., page 254] Given that there is a well-known theta in Leo, I would con clude that our Theta Shaowei is most likely Theta Leonis. The common name for this star is Chort, from the Arabic Al Horatan, once a name for Theta and Delta, meaning "two little ribs". [op. cit., pages 260 and 263] The constellation Leo is, of course, one of the signs of the Zodiac. Star System Data: Star Designation: Theta Leonis (Shaowei) Star Name: Chort Equatorial Coordinates: RA=11:14:14, DEC=15deg25'44" Galactic Coordinates: b=64.98deg, l=236.7deg Distance from Old Earth: 177.6 ly. Spectral Type: A2 V (Blue-white, Main Sequence) Magnitude: 3.32 Absolute Magnitude: -0.36 Known Planets: I. ? II. Hagal

(Part Three of Five--to be continued) The Stars and Planets of Frank Herbert's _Dune_: A Gazetteer By Joseph M. Daniels (c) 1999 (14201 B.G.), All rights reserved. ************ This is Part Three of Five, in two halves, continued. ************

I. Ix and Richese "Do not fear the Ixians. ...They can make the machines, but they can no longer m ake arafel." -- Leto II, _God Emperor of Dune_, page 420 It is ironical that in the "Terminology of the Imperium" the entry for Ix says o

nly "see Richese": for we hear little of Richese in the Dune Chronicles but much of Ix. I say that in spite of the fact that we meet no Ixians until _God Emper or of Dune_, but their products play a significant part throughout, providing pe rhaps the bte noire which Leto II's "Golden Path" sought to avoid [CD, page 350; GE, pages 13, 235, 345, 348, 420]. These planets, supreme in technology, somehow managed to avoid the consequences of the Butlerian Jihad, and we are directed to an as yet non-existent book for a n explanation, viz., _The Last Jihad_. We have, of course, the _Dune Encyclopedia_, which attempts to supply the missin g information. We are told that Ix (then known as "Komos") was once an agrarian planet dominated by the technologically advanced planet Richese. The people of Komos, led by Jehanne Butler (230-182 B.G.), rebelled, conquered Richese, exile d the technocrats to Komos, and launched the Butlerian Jihad upon the Galaxy. I n the process, Richese itself was abandoned for almost two and a half centuries. [DE, page 137-143, 348-351, 436-437] The exiled technocrats of Richese renamed Komos as "Ix" and founded there the te chnological society we have come to know as Ixian. Eventually they repopulated Richese and used it as a manufacturing center. [Ibid.] It is said that Aurelius Venport (140-79 B.G.) and Norma Cenva (148-78 B.G.) wer e Ixians. [DE, pages 497 and 153] You may recall that these two will be respon sible for the design of the first Guild ship. [GE, page 183] (Please see "Tupile" and "Arrakis" for discussions of problems relating to this couple, the Guild, and the spice melange. Also note that DE has "Cevna" in lieu of "Cenva"! [pages 153-155 and elsewhere] ) The name of Richese may be related to the Galach name for the Houses Minor: "Ri chece". Ix, of course, is supposed to be derived from the Roman numeral for the number nine, Ix being the ninth planet of its star system. The later Ixians wi ll not know this derivation. [CD, page 282 and 385] I do not wish to complicate matters but _ix_ is Yucatec Mayan for the title "lad y". [BM, page 173] Now the Encyclopedist relates that the religion of Komos cent ered on a Mother Goddess named Kubebe, served by an order of priestesses. [DE, page 349] I would have assumed this just a meaningless coincidence, but incredib ly, the Classic Mayan word for "lady" was _na_! [BM, page 173] Is "na-Baron" a n inside joke? If so, "Ix" is as well; and the supposed ignorance of the Ixians , a bit of irony. While on the subject of names, I would mention that the capital of Richese is su pposed to be Lugdunum-the Roman name for the city of Lyons, France. (But why?) [DE, page 436] Ix and Richese are planets of the star Eridani A. (Although to be precise, cano n only implies that Ix is in the same star system as Richese. The Encyclopedist states it flatly. [DE, pages 348 and 436] ) The star name is clearly truncate d: The suffixed "A" should indicate the primary star in a multiple star system, so there should be a Bayer letter or Flamsteed number preceding the name of the constellation-especially since the constellation is in the genitive case: Eridan i meaning "of Eridanus". Normally such an elision would leave one helpless to designate any particular st ar in Eridanus as that of Ix and Richese. I asked myself, however, if there wer e any star with "Eridani A" in its nomenclature which might have suggested itsel f to Herbert. In fact, there is.

Appearing forty-first in the "list of nearest stars", commonly appended to astro nomical reference books, is 40 Eridani A, which is also usually listed as Omicro n2 Eridani A. (Sikun's star, by the way, appears forty-third on this list.) Th e ambivalence of its nomenclature might have suggested (or even caused) the shor tened form used by Herbert. In any case, the star system is "a remarkable triple star system, containing the classic example of a white dwarf star for the small telescope" since it is eigh th nearest of the naked-eye stars. Sir William Herschel first measured the sepa ration of the A and B components in 1783. [CH, v. II, page 890] The white dwar f, designated as the B star, was the first star of this type to be recognized as such (even before Sirius B) and itself has a red dwarf companion as discovered by Otto Struve in 1851. [Ibid.] This red dwarf-40 Eridani C-is perhaps the star of Seprek, the fourth planet of "Eridani C" according to the Encyclopedist. [DE, page 396] (I have included it among the "Terrae Incognitae" since Seprek is not mentioned in _Dune_, but in t he _God Emperor of Dune_.) The star system of 40 (or Omicron2 )Eridani is called Keid, from the Arabic Al K aid, meaning "the egg shells". [SN, page 220] If I have reasoned correctly and the A star of Keid is the sun of Ix and Richese , then the statement by the Encyclopedist suggesting that Eridani A was "oddly s ituated within its galaxy [sic], which in turn was on the fringes of human settl ement" is problematic. [DE, page 350] One would, after all, hardly call a star within 16 light years of Old Earth "oddly situated". Reference to "its galaxy" (as if not the Galaxy) seems like a serious error regardless of the correctness of my speculations. Any star whose nomenclature included reference to a conste llation from the skies of Earth would have to be in our galaxy and probably in t he Orion Arm (see "Mapping the Imperium"). The Encyclopedist offered this misinformation as part of an explanation of how I x managed to preserve its isolation so as to elude the consequences of the Jihad during its rebuilding phase. I believe he was on stronger ground when he also ascribed it to the naturally severe disruption of human civilization in the neig hborhood of Eridani A as the veritable epicenter of the destructive wave. [Ibid .] Star System Data: Star Designation: 40(Omicron2 )Eridani A Star Name: Keid Equatorial Coordinates: RA=4:15:16, DEC=-7deg39'24" Galactic Coordinates: b=-37.46deg, l=200.99deg Distance from Old Earth: 16.5 ly. Spectral Type: K1 V (Orange, Main Sequence) Magnitude: 4.43 Absolute Magnitude: 5.92 Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. ? IV. Richese V. ? VI. ? VII. ? VIII. ? IX. Ix (Komos)

Planetary Data: Designation: 40 Eridani A IV Common Name: Richese Diameter: 55,000 km. [DE, page 436] Capital: Lugdunum Designation: 40 Eridani A IX Common Name: Ix, previously Komos Diameter: 40,000 km. [DE, page 348] ****** J. Kaitain: The Imperial Court The Imperial Court was removed to Kaitain from Salusa Secundus in 1487 A.G. [DE , page 513] The problem is what was Kaitain? The name of a star system? Or a planet? I cannot recall a reference to a place in the Dune Chronicles that was a t to a star system, rather than a particular planet. (One looks in vain tar name-Al Lat excepted-in the alphabetical entries of the "Terminology Imperium".) On the other hand, as has been clearly established, planets med after stars. referen for a s of the were na

Since there is a star named *Kaitain, it should be no surprise if there were a p lanet which will be its namesake and which will become the Imperial Capital. If this is so, then I am unable to say what star this planet orbits; for such info rmation is never revealed: it is always just "Kaitain". The name "Kaitain" is a variant name of Alpha Piscium and is from the Arabic al ukd al haitain, meaning "the knot of the cords", the cord, that is, binding the two fish of the constellation Pisces together. The ordinary common name of the star is Alrischa, perhaps derived from a Babylonian word for "cord". [SN, page 342] *Kaitain has the Galactic Coordinates: b= -55.08, l= 156.14 and is, as noted, th e alpha star of the Zodiacal constellation Pisces. It is a binary star of 3.82 apparent magnitude, 139.1 ly. away, and spectral type A2 (Blue-white). One remembers that @Salusa Secundus, circling Gamma Piscium, was perhaps the nam esake of Gamma Arietis Secundus. It would be too much to assert, but not so abs urd as to preclude, a possible literary allusion here. Could Herbert have origi nally intended @Kaitain to circle Alpha Aquarii? Thus the procession of the Imp erial Capital would mimic the precession of the vernal equinox: Aries to Pisces to Aquarius. Alpha Aquarii, incidenally, has the common name of Sadalmelik, mea ning something like "Luck of the King" in Arabic. Planetary Data: Sidereal Period: 360.001 rotations [DE, page 146] ****** K. Sikun Sikun will be the home of the Akarso plant. About it little else was said. Thi s planet orbits the star 70 Ophiuchi A, which has a bit more distinction. As noted above, it is one of the closest stars to Earth (forty-third closest at

only 16.6 light years away). Since it is a binary star, as discovered by Sir Wi lliam Herschel in 1779, the system has been thoroughly studied. So much so that permutations have been discovered in the orbits of the components that have led some to hypothesize a Jupiter-sized planet in the system. [CH, v. II, page 123 5-1236] It is not, however, on the most current list of confirmed extra-solar p lanets as of this writing. The following table from " " lists main sequence stars believed to be orbited by planets or "brown dwarfs": Star Designation 51 Pegasi HD 187123 UpsilonAndromedae 55 Cancri Rho Cor.Borealis HD 217107 HD210277 16 Cygni B Gliese 876 47 Ursae Majoris 14 Herculis HD 195019 Tau Bootis HD168443 70 Virginis HD 114762 HD 110833 BD-04 782 HD112758 HD 98230 HD 18445 HD 29587 HD 140913 HD 283750 HD 89707 HD 217580 Gl 229 Distance (parsecs) 15.4 50.0 16.5 13.4 16.7 37.0 ~22 ~22 4.72 14.1 17.0 20.0 ~15 ~33 18.1 28 ~17 ~16.5 ~45 ~16.5 ~25 ~18 6.7 Planetary Mass Sem.-Maj. Axis (in Jupiters) (in A.U.) .47 .05 .52 .042 .68 .057 .084 .11 1.1 .23 1.28 .04 1.37 1.15 1.5 .06-2.7 2.1 .21 2.8 2.11 3.3 2.5 3.43 .14 3.87 .0462 ~0.2 6.6 .43 10 .3 17 ~0.8 21 ~0.7 35 ~0.35 37 ~0.06 39 ~0.9 40 ~2.5 46 ~0.54 50 ~0.04 60 ~40 ~1 ~40

But if this planet does exist, perhaps some day a fan of Herbert's will suggest at the right moment to name it "Sikun". Star System Data: Star Designation: 70 Ophiuchi A Star Name: None Equatorial Coordinates: RA=18:05:25, DEC=2deg30'2" Galactic Coordinates: b=10.82deg, l=30.19deg Distance from Old Earth: 16.6 ly. Spectral Type: K0 V (Orange, Main Sequence) Magnitude: 4.03 Absolute Magnitude: 5.5 Known Planets: ? Sikun ****** L. Tleilax "Gholas. He's welcome to them."

--Daniel, _Chapterhouse: Dune_, page 433. If a person were to read only _Dune_, he would have little appreciation of the i mportance of Tleilax, which was defined as a renegade training center for mentat s and the source of "twisted" mentats. Yet from the beginning of _Dune Messiah_ , where Herbert introduces Scytale, the Face Dancer, they figure large indeed: i n fact the last sentence of the Chronicles, the limit of our vision of this poss ible future, concerns him and his race. Although the Order of Mentats founded by Gilbertus Albans will indeed seek tempo rary refuge among the Tleilaxu, they will avoid being incorporated into the Wekh t of Jandola and seed their schools so widely that even Leto II could not surpre ss them utterly. [CP, page 230] In the _Dune Messiah_ we learn about the disturbing biological experiments of th e Tleilaxu and their "axolotl" (later "axlotl") tanks. [For the spelling deviat ion, contrast DM, page 22 with GE, page 44.] And we begin to get some hint of t heir ambitious and incredibly long-term plan. There actually is such a thing as an axolotl: it is the larval form of a salaman der found in the waters of Lake Xochimilco near Mexico City. Normally they neve r metamorphize, remaining in the water and reaching sexual maturity in this appa rently permanent larval stage. This species had been a long accepted aquarium b reeding animal, when in 1865 at the Jardins des Plantes in Paris, several indivi duals transformed into what appeared to be a form of the tiger salamander. [EB, "Axolotl", vol. II, page 821] It was then discovered that this process could b e brought about at will by feeding the axolotl thyroid gland. It will thereafte r lose its gills and emerge from the water as an adult newt-the entire process t aking only a couple of weeks. [op.cit., "Metamorphosis", vol. XV, page 326] So when we think of the Tleilaxu axolotl tanks, one should imagine the aquarium at the Jardin des Plantes? Peut-tre non. One does have to wait a long time for a full description. [See HD, page 426 and CP, page 55] Indeed, the Encyclopedi st goes farther awry in discussing this subject and the post-scattering fate of the Bene Tleilax than most other subjects. [DE, pages 106-107 and 489-491] "Axolotl" is clearly a word of Nahuatl (i.e., Aztec) origin, so it is reasonable to look to that language for the name of the planet and race-Tleilax and Tleila xu (or Bene Tleilax). Several problems arise. I have as yet not found "tleilax" or a very close parallel in that language. (T here is a possibility that requires more of a stretch-see below.) While the "tl " is obviously a characteristic of Nahuatl (!), the "-x" ending does not seem so common. For a place name, one might expect an ending in -o, -c, -tlan, -lan, yan, -pan, -can, or -tla. [RA, pages 95 and 96] The plural suffix "-u" does no t seem appropriate either. As others and myself have noted, there is the Aztec god with a vaguely similar n ame: Tlaloc. His name would seem to connect him with earth (tlalli) [op. cit., page 5] but he was a god of rain and lightning and the mountains from which thes e were seen to come. He presided over spirits of the mountains and weather call ed Tlaloque (plural of Tlaloc). [GS, page 166-7] Children were sacrificed to h im by drowning them in lakes or sealing them in caves. Such child sacrifices we re unique to Tlaloc. [FS, page 213] ...And such grimness suggests the Bene Tl eilax and their genetic experiments. One might expect a planet of Tlaloc to be called Tlalocan (as the mythic fourth heaven of the Aztecs and his real temple were in fact called). [GS, page 167] But more serious objections can be raised to Tlaloc/Tlaloque yielding Tleilax/Tl eilaxu.

First, one notes a double change in vowels: "a" becomes "ei", "o" becomes "a". Secondly, to an English-speaking reader "x", pronounced "ks", seems close to a finial hard "c", but in post-Conquest Nahuatl orthography, the letter "-x" indic ated the sound "-sh"! [RA, page 5] So the third of three consonants is altered also: Did "tl-a-l-o-c" become "tl-ei-l-a-sh"? Etymologically, that seems diffic ult, but we are talking about a work of fiction-it only had to seem right to the author! Herbert, by the way, pronounced the name of the Tleilaxu as "tlee-laks-oo" as, f or example, his recording of _Heretics of Dune_ indicates. We also have to contend with the "bene" in Bene Tleilax. Given the revelations of the fifth and sixth books of the Dune Chronicles, one would suppose the Tleil axu would have gone for the Semitic "Beni" or "B'nai" Tleilax, that is, "Sons of Tleilax". I suggest that they originally did but that false analogy with the n ame of the Bene Gesserit had corrupted "beni" to "bene". (I greatly prefer this explanation to an attempt to find Semitic origins for "Bene Gesserit", a perfec tly good Latin phrase: "She will have conducted herself well." This hints at, "She will have given birth well", if we supply the Kwisatz Haderach as the impli ed object of the verb _gero, gerere_.) No doubt the similarity in names, whether the product of a false analogy or not, was supposed to suggest further valid analogies to us readers. Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you: the Tlaloque of Mexican mythology were dwarves. Perhaps when Herbert describes the Tleilaxu Master Tylwyth Waff as "elfin figure barely a meter and a half tall", he is telling us something more than just his height. [HD, page 46]. One also recalls a reference to "...the face dancers an d little people from the suspected artisan planets of the Tleilaxu...." [CD, pa ge 40] The planet Tleilax is the lone planet of the star Thalim. When I discovered tha t Beta Eridani, usually known as Cursa, has also been called Dhalim, I assumed I had the right identification. The dental and alveolar plosives are, after all, easily exchanged. It seems, however, that the name Thalim, Arabic Al Thalim me aning "the Ostrich", better belongs to Theta Eridani. [SN, pages 217-219] Now the constellation Eridanus is the "Celestial River", associated with various streams, mythical and real: the Ocean Stream, the Euphrates, but especially wit h the Nile. In modern times Eridanus stretches from Cursa (above mentioned) to Achernar, a name derived from the Arabic Al Ahir al Nahr, "the End of the River" . It was not always so. In ancient times Eridanus reached only to Theta Eridan i. It is not surprising then that its proper name, Acamar, is another form of A chenar's name. [Ibid.] Acamar is in fact a binary star, and I have arbitrarily chosen the primary star as the sun of Tleilax. At a distance of 161.3 ly. from Old Earth, it hardly fit s the Encyclopedist's description of it as an "isolated" planet, "hard to reach" . Once again (see "Ix and Richese"), this seems to be an ill-founded attempt to explain why a technologically oriented planet survived the Butlerian Jihad. Pe rhaps in this case it would be better to look to random chance. Star System Data: Star Designation: Theta Eridani A Star Name: Acamar (Thalim) Equatorial Coordinates: RA=2:50:16, DEC=-40deg18'37" Galactic Coordinates: b=-61.90deg, l=248.19deg

Distance from Old Earth: 161.3 ly. Spectral Type: A4 III (Blue-White, Giant) Magnitude: 2.88 Absolute Magnitude: -0.59 Known Planets: I. Tleilax Planetary Data: Capital: Bandalong [HD, pages 44 and 48] ****** M. Tupile "Were I to seek Tupile by prescience, this might hide Tupile." -Paul Muad'dib, _Dune Messiah_, page 60. Tupile-or the Tupiles, since the name probably designates more than one planet-w as the secret sanctuary for defeated Houses of the Imperium, maintained by the G uild. The Guild did its job so well that not only Paul Atreides, but even the y et more prescient readers of the Dune Chronicles are largely left in the dark ab out its nature and location. Not so the God Emperor. After all, Leto had no problem discerning the secret Ix ian Core and the Ixian attempt to plant a colony far outside the Empire [GE, pag e 152]. The fact that Tupile is not mentioned after _Dune Messiah_ may well tes tify to the clarity of Leto's vision in this matter as well. And not so the Encyclopedist! It is said that about 110 B.G. Ixian exiles, led by Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva, will choose Tupile as a place to conduct th eir experiments: the object of which will be to perfect a replacement for comput er controlled interstellar travel. Tupile will have been recently ravaged by th e Butlerian Jihad and favorably disposed to welcome the newcomers. Here Venport is to found The Society of Mystic Mariners, predecessor organization to the Spa cing Guild. [DE, pages 495-496, inter alia] None of this is essentially anti-canonical. Logically the founding of the Guild must precede the era designated as "After Guild"! And Leto II, as noted under "Ix and Richese", informs us that Venport and Cenva designed the first Guild shi p. That this couple was Ixian and that Tupile was the site of the Guild's found ation are reasonable extensions to the story. The problem is that the Encyclopedist is firmly committed to the notion that the spice melange was a prerequisite for the Guild's original success. He quotes a schoolboy poem: "Without Guild, no Spice. Without Spice, no Guild." [DE, page 464] Unfortunately, this means Arrakis had to be discovered by the beginning o f the Guild Era-ten thousand years before Muad'dib. I find this discordant with other statements in the Chronicles and even within the _Dune Encyclopedia_. It seems far too early. The Encyclopedist himself seems uncomfortable with his own hypothesis and realiz es that it begs the question: how did the Guild discover Arrakis and the Spice? He admits that the discovery of the navigational uses of melange is "an histori cal puzzle". [Ibid.] (See "Arrakis" for further discussion.) ****** N. Wallach IX

Wallach IX will be the site of the Mother School of the Bene Gesserit and is the ninth planet of Laoujin. This simple statement contains several mysteries. Fi rst, a planet called Wallach IX should orbit a star called "Wallach"! Second, o ne is stunned to find that Laoujin, meaning "the old man", is the Chinese name f or Canopus, the sun of Dune! In fact it was a name under which the Chinese wors hipped Canopus as late as 100 B.C.E. [SN, page 71] Any explanation is speculative; and one cannot entirely rule out a careless erro r on Herbert's part. Presently my own inclination is to imagine that the Bene G esserit renamed Wallach in honor of Canopus and its third planet. At first I considered that the star names might really indicate that Wallach IX and Dune were in the same star system. But if there is any hard evidence at all , it is this: the sun of Wallach IX was described as a "small blue-white sun". [DM, page 17] Now "small" is a relative term, and a ninth planet is far from it s sun, but a star's color is another matter: if Laoujin is blue-white (spectral type A) then it cannot be Canopus (spectral type F). One remembers the "milky l ight of the Arakeen sun" [DU, page 61], which at sunset was depicted as "a silve ry yellow half circle" [HD, page 298]. So we can at least exclude the possibili ty that Canopus was intended by "Laoujin". But we have no other information sug gesting a possible location of Laoujin (Wallach) and its ninth planet. Wallach is an appropriately gothic name to attach to the Bene Gesserit Mother Sc hool. Wallachia, "land of the Vlachs", is the country between the Transylvanian Alps and the Danube River, lying in modern Romania. One has only to recall tha t the prototype for Count Dracula was Vlad the Impaler, Voivode (Prince) of Wall achia. I presume that Wallach IX is intended by Dama, the Great Honored Matre, when she mentions "Wallach" in a list of conquered planets. [CP, page 223] Star System Data: Star Name: (Laoujin, formerly Wallach?) Spectral Type: A Known Planets: I. ? II. ? III. ? IV. ? V. ? VI. ? VII. ? VIII. ? IX. Wallach IX ************ Part Four: Terrae Incognitae "A refuge: Chapter House Planet. Such planets were not even recipients of nam es anymore; only numbers somewhere in Archives." -Alma Mavis Taraza, _Heretics of Dune_, page 217. ******

Table of Stellar and Planetary Names These names appeared in _Dune Messiah_, _Children of Dune_, _God Emperor of Dune _, _Heretics of Dune_, and _Chapterhouse: Dune_. Place Name, First Mentioned: Comment @ Al Dhanab, HD, page 338: A harsh planet to which Darwi Odrade will be sent after her spice agony. Presumably named after Deneb (Alpha Cygni). * Al Dhanab, HD, page 180: This star, presumably Alpha Cygni, possessed an "artificialworld" which was one of the Bene Gesserit's original "safe" p lanets. It was also the site of a nursery school, to which the young Darwi Odrade was sent. Alajory, HD, page 386: The location of a catastrophic explosion unknown to Miles Teg. Alajory may be a location on Gammu and thus not properly on this list. Arbelough, HD, page 255: Here the great Bashar Miles Teg risked his personal safety to go to the front lines. A victory, of course, ensued. Atar, DM, page 127: A planet with notably low gravity. Barandiko, HD, page 143: Miles Teg and Alma Mavis Taraza prevent a bloody confrontation here. Biarek, CD, page 396: Its Central Temple was besieged during the rebellions following the fall of St. Alia's regency. Buzzell, CP, page 21: The planet of exile for the Reverend Mother Dortujla was a cold planet, mostly ocean, producing "soostones". Cedon, DM, page 124: A planet which produced "fire jewels". Cerbol, HD, page 232: Where Miles Teg put down a revolt single-handedly. Chapter House Planet, HD, page 11: The headquarters of the Bene Gesserit, occupied about a hundred years after the death of the God Emperor. [For chr onology, compare HD, page 10 and 217] It was eventually to become another D une. [CP, page 272] Dan, Planets of, GE, page 42: There was talk of a new jihad here and on Parella (q.v.). Presumably these planets of Dan should not be confused with the later, shortened name for the planet Caladan. [see HD, page 123] Dur, HD, page 389: A place in the Scattering connected with the Honored Matres: Field Marshal Jaffa Muzzafar commands its forces, seems to consider "the Dur" as home, and refers to "the Eternal Rock of Dur". [HD, page 392] An Honored Matre, however, enjoins Teg to "praise Dur". [op. cit., page 4 33] As a personal name, "Dur" or "Guldur" is a designation used for Leto II-o n Gammu [op. cit., page 402] and in the Scattering [CP, page 81]. Perhaps Guldur is a corruption of "God Emperor". Enfiel, DM, page 51: The planet where the old Fremen Farok saw an ocean for the first time. Foum al-Hout, CD, page 307: The southern polestar of Dune. No doubt our Fomalhaut.

Gangishree, DM, page 144: A proverbially distant (and perhaps impoverished) place. Gansireed, CD, page 238: A planet on which there is a village named London, better known than the original by Leto II's time. IV Anbus, DM, page 205: Tibana, a Socratic Christian apologist, was born here. Junction, HD, page 114: An important Guild planet over which the Honored Matres gained control. It was not, however, the only "junction" planet. There were many. [CP, page 357] Kadesh, CD, page 154: From whence came Tagir Mohandis, the troubadour. Kadrish, CD, page 248: The denizens of "far Kadrish" were known for their foppish habits. Kroinin, HD, page 255: Here the Bashar Miles Teg decisively defeated anti-Sisterhood forces. Lampadas, HD, page68: Bene Gesserit stronghold. By the time of Darwin Odrade's ascendancy, it was a school planet. [CP, page 3] Later it was to b e the site of a major catastrophe. [op. cit., pages 28-30] Lernaeus, HD, page 34: Ancestral home of Miles Teg's family. It has a yellow sun. [HD, page 64] Markon, HD, page 254: Where Miles Teg's reputation alone won the battle without a fight. Molitor, DM, page 47: The site of an important victory of the Fremen Jihad. Muritan, DM, page 170: A Fremen mother asked Alia to prophesy about her son who allegedly died there. Naraj Worlds, DM, pages 44-45: Farok's son lost his eyes during their conquest. Niushe, CP, page 223: Apparently a planet named after the star of Gamont and Grumman. It was mentioned on a list of planets conquered by the Honored Matres. Novebruns, CD, page 369: A planet purchased from the Metulli Family for 321 liters of the spice melange in the days of Gurney Halleck. Palma, CP, page 5: A planet where 1100 Reverend Mothers will be "written off". Parella, GE, page 42: Moneo reports to the God Emperor that there was talk of a new jihad on Parella. Perth, GE, page 333: A place where a rare transite tongue is spoken. Ponciard, HD, page 355: A battle remembered by Miles Teg during a mind probe. Reenol, CP, page 223: Its name is on a list of planets conquered by the Honored Matres.

Renditai, HD, page 382: Veterans who had served with him there helped Miles Teg on Gammu. Roc, CP, page 407: The captive Honored Matre Murbella had come from there. Romo, HD, page 64: Where Miles Teg's brother Sabine was poisoned. Sembou, DM, page 100: Another site of a victory of the Fremen Jihad. Semboule, DM, page 232: The name of a treaty read and signed by the blind Maud'dib, perhaps connected with the victory at Sembou. Seprek, GE, page 81: The garrison from which Leto II summoned the Fish Speaker Nayla was located on this planet. It's sun is Eridani C. [DE, pag e 396] Tarahell, DM, page 177: The conquered planet on which Otheym the Fedaykin contracted the spitting disease. Zabulon, DM, page 106: A place on the agenda of the Fremen Jihad. ************ Part Five: Harkonnen and Atreides "Democritus, son of Damasippus an Abderite, consulted with the Gymnosophists in India and with the priests in Egypt and with the astrologers and wise men in Bab ylon. ...And he would say that the realities were always moving in the void; an d there are an infinite number of worlds differing in size; in some there is nei ther sun nor moon, in others they are larger than ours, and in others there are many suns and moons. The distances between the worlds are unequal and in some q uarters there are more worlds, in others fewer, and some are growing and others have reached their full size, and others are disintegrating, and in some quarte rs worlds are coming into being and in others they are ceasing to exist. ...And some worlds are devoid of living beings and all moisture." -Hippolytus (d. ca. 230 C.E. or 15970 B.G.), Refutation of All Heresies, I.13.565 ****** A. Giedi Prime (later Gammu) "Gammu? He could never think of it by any name other than the original: Giedi P rime. Harkonnen hell hole." --said of Duncan Idaho (the last), _Chapterhouse: Dune_, page 256 Giedi Prime, the planet of 36 Ophiuchi B, will be the home world of House Harkon nen and, as a consequence, the evil pole of _Dune_'s moral dialectic. It continued to be ruled by the Harkonnens at least until late in the reign of L eto II. This is evidenced by the no-globe that Leto II allowed them to build an d which was re-discovered by Patrin, Miles Teg's assistant, during his youth on this planet. [HD, page 221ff.] Despite what is said in the _Dune Encyclopedia_, Duncan Idaho (the Original) was a native of Giedi Prime-"...born and raised there". [Op. cit., page 39]

After the Harkonnens were forced to abandon it, post-Scattering Caladanians colo nized Giedi Prime. These newcomers called the planet Gammu, a name which had be en given to it in the great remapping and suggested by Gurney Halleck. [Op. cit ., page 123] Apparently the new name had not effectively replaced the old one u ntil then: even Duncan Idaho (#13723) and Leto II referred to it as Giedi Prime in a policy discussion. [GE, page 13] (Or perhaps Herbert did not think of ren aming Giedi Prime until after writing _God Emperor of Dune_....) One might have expected the Caladanian colonists to sanitize the planet. Neither their efforts nor their genes succeeded totally: in the time of "Tar and Dar" t he place still smelled of bitter oil, and Caladanian subtlety had merely been su perimposed on earlier Harkonnen brutality. [HD, pages 23, 123-124; CP, page 33] The Reverend Mother Lucilla came to view the people of Gammu as "the gutter in habitants on this gutter planet". [HD, pages 397-398] Sometimes one cannot tra nscend a bad start. One of the principle mises-en-scne of _Heretics of Dune_, Gammu did not seem to b e directly ruled by the Honored Matres, but it one of the list of conquered worl ds recited by Dama, the Great Honored Matre, in _Chapterhouse: Dune_. [CP, page 423] As I observed at the beginning of this document, @Giedi Prime was named after a star: Alpha1 Capricorni. As also noted before, one can only assume that this w as done to commemorate some historical event or relationship unknown to us. Herbert may have been motivated by another sort of symbolism: The Zodiacal const ellation Capricorn is "the goat" and "Giedi" means the "kid of a goat". This mi ght be a comment on the habits of the Harkonnens, especially their sexual habits , carnality often being associated with that animal. Certainly the Encyclopedist saw the connection, assigning the Harkonnens a goat' s head for a coat-of-arms. [DE, page 278] Unfortunately for this ascription, H erbert subsequently revealed that the "griffin" was the symbol of the Harkonnens and-if ghola Duncan Idaho's reaction is any indicator-always had been. [HD, pa ge 221] If one wished to gloss this over, one could say that the goat's head wa s the arms of the barony; and the griffin, that of the family. Alpha Capricorni or Algiedi is a complex star, consisting of the optical binary pair *Giedi Prime and Giedi Secundus. The former is yellow-white supergiant at about 543 ly. distance; the latter is a yellow-white giant at about 96 ly. dista nce. Each has companions and some of these are themselves binary. Perhaps ther e are up to 9 components in the entire group. The star system of @Giedi Prime lies, along with Poritrin and Sikun in the const ellation Ophiuchus. Also in this constellation is the remnant of the last supernova observed in our Galaxy. This supernova is often called "Kepler's Star" after the famed astronom er, who saw it but did not actually discover it. It was observable near Theta O phiuchi from October 9, 1604 to March 1606. At its peak it was brighter than Ju piter. [CH, vol. II, page 1249] (Other supernovae had been observed in 1006, 1 054, and 1572. Flamsteed may have noted one in 1680 without being conscious of it as something unusual. [GG, page 110] ) Also in Ophiuchus is Barnard's Star, a faint, red dwarf which at 6 ly. is the ne xt closest star to us after the Sun and the Alpha Centauri System. There is rea son to believe it has one or more planets. [CH, vol. II, pages 1251-1252] But i t is not on the list of currently confirmed stars with planets. (See "Sikun".)

This star also has the greatest apparent motion across the sky: it is heading du e "north" at about 10.29 seconds of arc per year. And it is coming on strong; i n 8000 years it will be about 4 ly. away from Old Terra. [Ibid.] On the Dune ti me line, of course, this is not an "out of range" number. Perhaps it will be mo ving away from Sol in Maud'dib's time. The name of Ophiuchus means "serpent bearer", and there is a related constellati on Serpens separated into two parts ("head" and "tail") by Ophiuchus. Ophiuchu s lies in the general direction of the galactic center (ranging between 36 and 35 7 of galactic longitude) and borders the Milky Way. The Greeks identified this figure with Asklepios(Latin: Aesclapius), a legendary physician and god of medicine. [NA, page558] A strange association for the Ha rkonnens, given that their knowledge of the pharmacopoeia seemed to be limited t o chaumas and chaumurky. As noted above, @ Giedi Prime is the lone planet of 36 Ophiuchi B, the second st ar of a binary star system. (Although this star was once described as "a sun an d its captive planets" [CP, page 361], one presumes this was a simple error.) It was noted that it was a "median-viable planet with a low active-photosynthesi s range". It is surprisingly close to Old Terra. At 19.5 ly., it would be in the Sirian Sector. @Giedi Prime has lots of moons, but it is not clear how many will be natural sat ellites. [HD, pages 372-373, 417] Star System Data: Star Designation: 36 Ophiuchi B Star Name: None Equatorial Coordinates: RA=17:15:18, DEC=-26deg35'56" Galactic Coordinates: b=6.29deg, l=358.53deg Distance from Old Earth: 19.5 ly. Spectral Type: K2 III (Orange, Giant), color actually "yellow-green" [HD, page 2 85] Magnitude: 4.33 Absolute Magnitude: 5.44 Known Planets: I. Giedi Prime (Gammu) Planetary Data: Designation: 36 Ophiuchi B I Common Name: Giedi Prime, later Gammu Capital: Barony, later called Ysai [HD, page 285] Day: 31.27 Standard Hours [op. cit., page 123] Year: 2.6 Standard Years [Ibid.] ****** B. Caladan (later Dan) "Tell me about the waters of your birthworld, Paul Muad'dib." -Chani, _Dune_, page 320

Caladan is the third planet of Delta Pavonis, the home world of House Atreides,

and place of birth of Paul Muad'dib (however much @Arrakis was "his place".). I ts chief agricultural export will be pundi rice. At the beginning of the Chronicles the Atreides had lived in Castle Caladan for twenty-six generations. [DU, page 3] The Encyclopedist gives us a list of 48 A treides Siridar-Dukes of Caladan from Paulos XVI to Leto II the Tyrant. Paulos was said to have occupied Castle Caladan in 8722. [DE, pages 60 and 151] The ducal list of forty-eight would seem to contradict the canonical twenty-six generations. One must, of course, exclude Muad'dib and the Tyrant since the gen erations were reckoned during Leto I's lifetime. Then, if one carefully avoids incorrectly counting brothers, cousins, and nephews as being in differing genera tions from their siblings and cousins, he finds the twenty-six-generation precon dition satisfied. The timeline seems acceptable. The twenty-six generations cover 1469 bout 57 years per generation. This is considerably higher ratio than r own time: generally, about 3 generations are estimated per century. ctancy, thanks to the spice, will have been extended, although I know anation of its effect (if any) on the onset of puberty and menopause. years or a used in ou Life expe of no expl

It will be said that the instant Duke Leto I Atreides died a meteor streaked acr oss the sky of Caladan above his ancestral palace. [DU, page 175] Lady Jessica will live out her existence there after the deaths of her son and daughter. [C P, page 282] Caladan will probably be settled by the seventh century B.G. since Harmonthep in the same system received its Zensunni contingent in 6049 A.G. [DE, page 514] At first I considered that the name of Caladan might be a corrupt form of "Caled onia", the Roman name for northern Britain. Names alluding to Scotland have cer tainly been attached to far-flung places: the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and N ova Scotia come immediately to mind. One can imagine my surprise when I discovered a much more likely origin. It see ms that there is a Kaladan river in Myanmar (Burma). I did not think much of th is until I discovered it was in the old Burmese province of Arakan (now Rakhine) . Indeed the old capital of Arakan is on the Kaladan, about 50 miles northeast of Akyub (now Sittwe). As I will explain at the appropriate place, I think there were other influences in the naming of @Arrakis, but I suspect that "Caladan" came from the connection of the river Kaladan with the city of Arakan. This would mean that Herbert had noticed the similarity of Arakan (Rakhine) to Arrakis (Rakis) and Arrakeen (Kee n) and then made use of the name of the river. It should come as no surprise that rice is the principal crop of this Burmese pr ovince as it is of @Caladan. But much of the land is untillable. [EB, "Arakan" , vol. II, page 211] That this Burmese origin brings us to old British India is not inappropriate eit her. Several titles associated with the Imperium of House Corrino are derived f rom Persian, court language of the Mogul emperors of India. These titles were p assed through the imperial terminology of the Turkish Empire as well as bequeath ed to the British Raj. The most obvious is the Persian _pad shah_, meaning "master king", which yielded padishah. This title was used by the Ottoman ruler, the shah of Iran, the Brit ish monarch as ruler of India, and, of course, the House Corrino. It may have a lso been the origin of the Turkish pasha or bashaw: the latter variant obviously

will be the origin of the rank of bashar used in the Imperium. [HJ, pages 70 a nd 652] The Imperium will also use the rank of _caid_, which I believe derives from Otto man terminology also. So far I can only find it attested in Moroccan titulary. [EB, vol. XIV, page 813] I do not know its ultimate origin. Now the Imperial rank of siridar comes from _sirdar_, a British Indian term mean ing a high noble, military officer, or chief servant. It was from the Persian _ sar dar_, meaning literally "head of holding" or "leader". The term was also use d as the title of the commander-in-chief of the Anglo-Egyptian army. [HJ, page 8 40 and 841] It is interesting that a similar term _sircar_, derived from Persian _sar kar_, meaning "head of work", was used in Indian to describe a government clerk and, by extension, the government as a whole. [ibid.] It is tempting to see a combi ned form sar-dar-kar as the origin of Sardaukar-perhaps under the influence of a nother Indian term _subahdar_, the governor of a province or (in the native army ) the equivalent of an army captain. [op. cit., page 856] Speaking of the rulers of Persia and India, let it be noted that in 1739 Nadir S hah of Persia invaded India and took the actual throne of the Mogul emperors as loot. It was known as the Peacock Throne, being a golden divan surmounted by be jeweled peacocks. [The story is recounted in the April, 1985 issue of the Natio nal Geographic.] Coincidentally the star of Caladan is in the constellation Pav o, the Peacock. Star System Data for Caladan: Star Designation: Delta Pavonis Star Name: None Equatorial Coordinates: RA=20:08:38, DEC=-66deg11'01" Galactic Coordinates: b=-32.89deg, l=329.88deg Distance from Old Earth: 19.9 ly. Spectral Type: G5 V (Yellow-white, Main Sequence) Magnitude: 3.55 Absolute Magnitude: 4.62 Known Planets: III. Caladan ? Harmonthep ****** C. Arrakis (later Rakis)-a.k.a. Dune "As long as Dune had been a known and living planet, there existed a historical firmness about its presence in the Galactic Register. You could point to a proj ection and say: "That is Dune. ...Destroy the place, though, and a mythological patina inveighed against projected reality. In time such places became totally mythic. Arthur and his round table. Camelot where it only rains at night." --Darwi Odrade, _Chapterhouse: Dune_, pages 274-275.

Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is the third planet of Canopus, Alpha Carinae . A desert planet where it never rained at all in the time of Muad'dib (David L ynch to the contrary notwithstanding), it was to become verdant in the long, lon g reign of the Tyrant-only to be desiccated again after his demise. The Honored

Matres, of course, transformed it one final time. In spite of the fact that its history is the Chronicles, many mysteries remain a bout it-none more obscure than how the sandworm and its spice came to be there i n the first place and when the navigation-aiding properties of the spice were di scovered. The Encyclopedist argues that the sandworm (geonemotodium arraknis) evolved natu rally on Arrakis from a burrowing worm (shaihuludata) which survived a catastrop hic atmosphere loss. This loss of oxygen supposedly has already happened more t han 49 million years ago. The Encyclopedist goes on to say, "For many centuries it was believed that Shai-Hulud was responsible for the desertification of Arra kis. However, many scientists now believe that sandworms are the product, not t he cause." [DE, pages 37-38] Unfortunately for this thesis, Leto II told a different story. "The sandtrout . ..was introduced here from some other place. This was a wet planet then. They p roliferated beyond the capability of existing ecosystems to deal with them. San dtrout encysted the available free water, made this a desert planet...and they d id it to survive. In a planet sufficiently dry, they could move to their sandwo rm phase." [CD, page 32, the second ellipsis is Herbert's] Furthermore, one may remember the prediction of Leto II that the green Arrakis o f his time could be reconverted by the sandtrout/sandworm back into desert Dune within 300 years. [GE, page 121] The experience of Darwi Odrade on Chapterhous e certainly confirms this. I have no trouble taking Leto's version as canonical, but his testimony begs the question: Who introduced the sandtrout to Arrakis? For this question, there is no answer. None of the forces known to us in the Du ne Chronicles will be able to successfully transplant the worm to a different pl anet, try as they might, until the Bene Gesserit of Darwi Odrade's time. So eit her it was an unknown human agency or an alien one that put the worm on Dune in the first place. The timing of the discovery of the spice melange is just as vexing. On the one hand, the Encyclopedist, as noted under "Tupile", equated the inventi on of the first Guild ship by Venport and Cenva with the discovery of the naviga tional uses of the spice. This consequentially puts this discovery, and necessa rily that of Arrakis, in the pre-Imperium era. On the other hand, we find the following facts: * The Harkonnen quasi-fiefdom on Dune to mine the spice under a CHOAM contract w as only 80 years old at the start of the Chronicles. [DU, page 4] There is no information about the previous history of the contract-if indeed there was any p revious contract! * Dr. Yueh showed Paul a filmbook, called: "Arrakis: His Imperial Majesty's Dese rt Botanical Testing Station". "It was an old filmbook from before discovery of the spice." [DU, page 66] Is this a ten-thousand-year-old book? * We know that Yanshuph Ashkoko, royal chemist in the reign of Shakkad the Wise, discovered the geriatric properties of spice. [CD, page 17]. Unfortunately, S hakkad is not found in the imperial list offered by the _Dune Encyclopedia_. [D E, pages 200-205]. But one assumes that this places the event in the Corrino I mperium. * Pardot Kynes was the first planetologist of Arrakis. [DU, page 493] Surely, if the discovery of spice had been so ancient as the Encyclopedist suggests, the n a planet of such surpassing importance would have had a planetologist before t

hen. * In Princess Irulan's introduction to the movie _Dune_, she refers to the Spaci ng Guild navigators' spice-induced mutation "over four thousand years". * The Rossak Fremen arrived on Dune by the Encyclopedist's own calculation in 71 93 A.G., being preceded by the Ishian Fremen (but surely not by much). [See "Is hia" and "Rossak".] Although few of these points flatly contradict the Enclyclopedist's thesis, the general tenor is that the discovery of spice is less ancient than suggested. So mehow, it does not seem plausible that the mining of spice on Arrakis had preced ed the coming of the Fremen by this many millennia. Nor does the general ignora nce about the physical origin and the full effects of the spice fit well with su ch a long usage. On the other hand, the consequence of not accepting the early date is that durin g a considerable stretch of the Imperium-six thousand years, more or less-the Sp acing Guild must have used, as did the Bene Gesserit, some other "poison" for th eir "tricks". (And once they had tried the spice, it may have been difficult, i f not impossible, to go back. Certainly this was so for the Bene Gesserit.). [ DU, page 477] The real problem may be the excessive (almost Trantorian) length of the timeline for the Imperium. Herbert, of course, was making a point about the stagnation of mankind under the long rule of the Corrinos-a point to be hammered home again and again and again by the God Emperor-but perhaps he overdid it. Certainly if the discovery of Arrakis and the spice occurred within a few centuries of the c hange of eras (B.G. to A.G.)-along with the Butlerian Jihad, the C.E.T, the foun ding of the Bene Gesserit, CHOAM, the Landsrad, House Corrino, and, obviously, t he Spacing Guild-precious little significant history seems to have happened duri ng the next ten thousand years! We do know a few scattered bits of early Fremen history on Arrakis: One of Sheea na's ancestors led the original migration to Dune. [CP, page 401] Old Gap was the way the first Fremen migrated into the desert. [CD, page 338] This was per haps the Long Trek referred to by Leto II. [GE, page 313] Red Chasm Sietch was one of the original settlements. [CD, page 171] It is obvious why the inhabitants called their planet "Dune". (One may recall, of course, that Herbert's original publication in Astounding Science Fiction was called "Dune World".) Why exactly it was called "Arrakis" in the Imperial Gala ctic Register is unknown. As @Giedi Prime, @Arrakis was clearly named for a sta r-as previously explained, the assumption is that something important happened t here. The star Arrakis is Mu Draconis. Its name Al Rakis is Arabic for "the dancer". Since in early Arabic astronomy it was part of an asterism, called the Five Cam els, along with Beta, Gamma, Nu, and Xi. [SN, pages 207, 211], one may interpre t the name as the "dancing" or "trotting" camel. Obviously, there is nothing pa rticularly satisfying in this. As noted in the article "Caladan", there is an apparent connection with Arakan i n Myanmar. Its significance is hard to evaluate and may explain more about the choice of Caladan than Arrakis. There is, however, yet a third and, perhaps, most likely motivation for choosing the name. It seems that in the Far East the name "arrack" was applied to a var iety of native spirituous liquors. Variations on the name are "araka" "ariki", "rack", "rak". It is used for liquor made from koumiss (mare or camel's milk), the arecanut, palm toddy, mahua tree flowers, etc. Its name derives either from the arecanut or from the Arabic arak , "sweat". At the beginning of the ninete

enth century, whole forests in Ceylon were devoted to its production, and distil lation took place at all the villages around the coast. [EB, vol. II, page 426427] *Arrakis is a binary or perhaps triple star of 5.1 magnitude and at about 71 ly. distance. It lies in the constellation Draco. This constellation contains Cor rin, Grumman, and Gramont. [See "Corrin" for comments on the constellation.] Now the star of @Arrakis is Canopus, as famous as *Arrakis is obscure. It is th e second brightest star in the sky, but unfortunately (for me) cannot be seen fr om latitudes above 37 N. The Chinese worshipped it as Laoujin. [See "Wallach" f or comment on that name.] It was an important star on the Arabian deserts, too, where it was called Suhail perhaps from Al Sahl, the "plain". [SN, page 68] I n modern times it has been used for spacecraft navigation. [NA, page 468] Still it was Canopus's place in mythology that must have inspired Herbert. First of all, Canopus or Kanopos was the name of the chief pilot of the fleet of Menelaus, returning from the Trojan War. It is to be remembered that it was He len, wife of Menelaus, who ran off with Paris of Troy and caused that war. Herb ert made the Atreides descendants of Agamemnon, brother of Menelaus. These brot hers were the sons of Atreus-hence the House of Atreus or Atreides. [CD, page 6 0 and 287; GE, page 13] Examination of the family tree of the original Atreides and their Pelopid and Ta ntalid relatives reveals the source of the noble titles used by the Encyclopedis t for Demetrios Atreides and his descendants: Lords Tantalos, Barons Pelops, Bar ons Menelaus, Counts Thuestes, Barons Aigisthos. [DE, pages 55-56] The legends about this house are as bloody and unhappy as the history of any of Herbert's Houses Major. Atreus and his brother Thyestes in fact founded rival h ouses bitterly struggling for control of the Mycenaean crown. (And along with m urdering each other, they managed to work in a fair amount of adultery and inces t.) Yet of Agamemnon Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) said: "Gallant heroes lived before Agamemnon, Not a few; but on all alike, Unwept and unknown, Eternal night lies heavy Because they lacked a sacred poet" [LQ, page 171] Well, the later Atreides did not lack a sacred poet either. Whether they were s upposed to be descended from the legitimate heirs of Agamemnon (Orestes or Elect ra) or some bastard Herbert did not explain. During the return from Troy, the fleet of Menelaus stopped on the coast of Egypt , where Canopus died and a monument was erected. Supposedly, his name was subse quently given to an ancient city near there and to the star. [SN, page 68] The Romans, however, used the term "Canopus" not only for the city, but also for Lo wer Egypt and indeed Egypt as a whole. [LD, page 88] Hence the Egyptian connec tion of the Fremen is reinforced as well by this choice of star. Canopus is Alpha Carinae. Carina (the "keel") was, along with Vela the "sail" a nd Puppis the "poop deck"), one of the parts into which the ancient constellatio n Argo Navis was divided. This huge constellation was named for the ship of Jas on and the Argonauts, another hero doomed to misfortune. (Yes, Herbert was tryi ng to tell us something.) Canopus is a supergiant white star whose distance from earth seems to be problem

atic. date 992), owest

I have found the following values stated-all in light years with material in parentheses: 74 (1991), 98 (1994), 100-120 (1978), 116.5 (1996), 228 (1 312 (1998), 600+ (1978), and 1200 (1991). The amazing thing is that the l and highest were listed in the same book! [NA, pages 469 and 698]

In explanation of this ambiguity, Burnham mentions that Canopus, being a souther n star, had not been studied much up to his time. [CH, vol. I, pages 465-6] Rep etition of outdated data by reference works may be at work here, too; but frankl y I am not sure what the problem is. The Encyclopedist offers a novel "fact" about Canopus, claiming that it has a "w hite hole" companion, Canopus B. A white hole is a theoretical opposite end to a "black hole". That is to say, the enormous amount of energy sucked in by the latter, spews out the former, perhaps in another universe. In fact, the Encyclopedist seems to be trying to establish that Canopus (and hen ce Dune and the Dune Chronicles) is not of the Milky Way Galaxy. We have noted somewhat anomalous data before. (See "Ix and Richese" and "Tleilax".) But in t he article on the astronomy of @Arrakis, he states that the name of the galaxy i s "Starspen", that Canopus is 129,000 light years from galactic center, that thi s galaxy is a middle-aged one about 12 billion years old, and that Canopus is a "main sequence star". Now the truth is, I rather like the name "Starspen" (wherever that came from), b ut Canopus is no where close to the distance stated from Galactic Center. In fa ct, 129,000 ly exceeds the diameter of our galactic disk. [See "Mapping the Imp erium".] Furthermore, the Universe has been estimated to be 10-20 billion years old, thirteen or fourteen billion seeming to be a common value. [E.g., HH, pag e 262 and NA, page 13] A galaxy of 12 billion years is rather old. Finally, al though the Encyclopedist seems to be using his own spectral classes, the phrase "main sequence star" (necessarily referring to the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram) is not applicable to Canopus, now or ever. Now if my thesis is correct about the Encyclopedist's intent, all I can say is t hat this document is a rejection, if not a refutation, of any claim that Dune is not in our universe. If a parallel universe is invoked (fair, I suppose, in th e sci-fi world), then I ask, "Why?" Why would one not want to feel the connecti on with the world of Dune as our future? Just because Star Wars was about some strangers in a galaxy long ago and far away? We do know some more things about the skies of Dune than any other planet in the Chronicles, save Old Earth. We know of three constellations: Muad'Dib: the Mou se, whose tail pointed north [DU, page 192]; the Pointers (or the Fremen Arrows) [GE, page 327], and the Wanderer, whose arm points to the southern polestar Fou m al-Hout [CD, page 307]. We also know the two moons of Dune, unnamed by Herbert, but called Krelln and Ar von by the Encyclopedist. [DE, pages 20-23] The first has the image of a hand; the second, the image of the kangaroo mouse. Was Muad'dib named for the mouse, the moon or the constellation? The mouse seems indicated at the actual time of choosing [DU, page 307]; but his previous prediction to his mother Jessica was more ambivalent [DU, page 199]. Constellation Carina includes another famous stellar object: Eta Carina and its Keyhole Nebula. This star was listed as a fourth magnitude star in the time of Edmund Halley (1677). By 1843 its magnitude was -0.8, rivaling Sirius. Since t hen it has faded, apparently hiding itself in a cloud of ejected material. This variable star may be on the increase again. It is considered the most likely n aked eye star to become a supernova. [NA, pages 470 and 471] But calm yourself ! It is on the order of 9000 ly. away. [GG, page220]

The nebula also contains the most luminous star known in the Galaxy: HD93139A. Four million times brighter than the Sun, it emits a good deal of its output in the ultraviolet range. Star System Data for Arrakis: Star Designation: Alpha Carinae Star Name: Canopus Equatorial Coordinates: RA=6:23:59, DEC=-52deg41'52" Galactic Coordinates: b=-25.13deg, l=261.29deg Distance from Old Earth: 312.7 ly. [See discussion above.] Spectral Type: F0 Ib (White, Supergiant) Magnitude: -0.62 Absolute Magnitude: -5.53 Major Planets (with average distance in km.): [All from DE, pages 20-23, 33] I. II. III. IV. V. VI. Seban (52,000,000 km.=0.3745 a.u.) Menaris (68,000,000 km.=0.4545 a.u.) Arrakis (87,000,000 km.=0.5816 a.u.) Extaris Ven (2,580,000,000 km.=17.2462 a.u.) Revona (7,700,000,000 km.=51.4713 a.u.)

Planetary Data: [All from DE, pages 20-23, 33] Designation: Canopus III Common Name: Arrakis (later called "Rakis") or Dune. Capital: Generally Arrakeen (later called "Keen"), but also Carthag [DU, page 48 ] and On. Diameter: 12,256 km. Density: 4.95 g/cm3 Gravity: 8.62 m/sec2 Sidereal Period: 353 standard days (variable over geological time from 295 to 59 5 days) Satellite Data: [All from DE, pages 20-23] First Moon: Name: Krelln Ave. Distance from planet: 324,077 km. Diameter: 976 km. Density: 3.97 g/cm3 Sidereal Period: 25.5 standard days Second Moon: Name: Arvon Perigee Distance from planet 103,000 km. Diameter: 402 km. Density: 2.02 g/cm3 Sidereal Period: 5.7 standard days ************ "The choice is the Universe--or nothing."

--H. G. Wells ************