Onyx
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| Onyx | |
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| Astrographical | |
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System: |
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Orbiting: |
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Orbital position: |
Fourth planet |
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Moon(s): |
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| Physical | |
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Diameter: |
14,829 kilometres (9,214 mi)[1] |
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Gravity: |
0.998 G[1] |
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Length of day: |
28.728 hours[1] |
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Length of year: |
415.394 days[1] |
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Atmosphere: |
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Surface temperature: |
-25°C to 47°C (-13°F to 116.6°F)[1] |
| Societal | |
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Species: |
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Colonized: |
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Government: |
Formerly Ecumene and later, Unified Earth Government |
- "XF-063 is a rare jewel of a find."
- — Captain D. F. Lambert[2]
Onyx, officially known to the UNSC as "XF-063"[2] or Zeta Doradus IV,[3] was a planet-sized Forerunner megastructure located in the Zeta Doradus system, and formerly the external component of the shield installation designated Shield World 006. While it had a human-habitable surface and a seemingly terrestrial crust, Onyx was internally composed of trillions of Onyx Sentinels.[4] The artificial planet's ultimate purpose was to guard the entrance to the shield world proper, a Dyson sphere held in a miniature slipspace bubble.[5] During the Human-Covenant War, Onyx served as the headquarters of the SPARTAN-III program and was the location of the massive, three-sided Onyx Conflict in late 2552. At the conclusion of the battle, Onyx itself disintegrated, only leaving the Dyson sphere in its core intact. After the disintegration of the artificial planet, the name "Onyx" has often been applied to the Dyson shell that remains in its stead,[3][6] and can be regarded as the overall name for the shield installation, comprising both the planetary shell and the Dyson sphere.[3][7]
Overview[edit]
Topography and ecology[edit]
Onyx, named by the UNSC Engineering Corps due to the unusually large onyx quarries found in the planet's crust, had an oxygen-nitrogen gas atmosphere, of suitable pressure for human life with a temperate weather cycle. It also had an unusually large number of indigenous species of flora and fauna, some of which were edible by humans and posed no threatening danger. The transplanting of Earth species was immediately possible.[2]
Some notable anomalies were that it had no detectable tectonic activity, an unusually strong planetary magnetic field, and slightly higher than normal background radiation.[2] All of this was explained when it was revealed that the planet's crust was composed of large numbers of dormant Sentinels.[4]
Locations[edit]
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Structure[edit]
Onyx's foundational structure was composed of trillions of Onyx Sentinels, arranged into a crystalline latticework in which the Sentinels' central spheres served as spherical joints, connected by rods which, in the Sentinel's normal arrangement, surrounded the central sphere.[4][8] The planet's Earth-like landmass was laid over this structure, which also contained a vast network of subterranean tunnels and installations, at least one massive Forerunner city,[9] a map room, and an immense Sentinel production facility under the northern polar region.