PHYSICAL APPEARANCE:

Helios consists of one major continent and four smaller ones.  In addition,
there are a number of major islands and a few archipelagoes.  The Main
community of Helios is located on a small island in the southern hemisphere
in the temperate zone.

Weather:
Because of its location close to its sun, Helios has a wide range of
climates.  Remarkably, though, Helios is nearly void of any types of violent
weather.  Helios weather is relatively calm with a few exceptions, most
notably in the temperate zones during the end of the summer month.  The
rapid change in temperatures throughout the polar and temperate  regions
usually brings about a couple of small storms a year.  Occasionally one of
these storms will brew into a major storm, but rarely does the storm last
more than four or five days.

The band around the equator represents Helios' only semi-constant
temperature zone.  Most of the land area in this range (2 bands) is either
desert or arid plains.  Any activity in these areas during the daylight
hours is hazardous as the temperature rarely drops below 40deg C (104deg F).
This central range band is termed the "equatorial zone."

During the summer month, this "daylight danger" band extends through most of
the temperate zone and includes 5 more range bands for a total of 7 bands
from the equator.  This zone (these 5 range bands) is termed the "temperate
zone."  During the winter, this zone is considered the main temperate zone
because the temperature ranges from 29deg (85deg F)closest to the equator to
-10deg C (13deg F)nearest the polar zone.

The area on either pole is covered by a seasonal ice cap.  Due to the
extreme axial tilt, the ice cap extends out from the poles nearly 4 range
bands.  The fringes of these polar caps are very thin, and usually only
occur at night. The shortness of Helios' rotational period prevents the
formation of any thick ice caps, but during the short winter month, the
polar area can be quite treacherous to navigation.  The temperature in this
band ranges from 31deg C (88deg F)during the summer on the fringe to -31deg
C (-24deg F) at the polar cap during the middle of winter.  This zone is
known as the polar zone.

Mineral Content:
While there have never been radioactive deposits found on Helios, the world
was once a world rich in fossil fuels.  Before the collapse, many of the
mineral resources of the planet were mined and taken away by the prospector
in for a quick buck.  Helios now has a good supply of fossil fuels as well
as some decent mineral deposits.  While iron ore is readily available, much
of Helios' imports consist of other minerals necessary for their society.

Extended System:
Helios occupies the first orbit, orbit zero, around Zenith, the systems K6 V
star.  Because of the size of the star, and Helios' proximity to it, travel
to and from Helios is somewhat difficult.  Ships arriving in the system find
that the 100-diameter limit imposed on them by their jump drive leaves them
somewhere around the number two orbit, days from Helios.  Fortunately, this
second orbit is a planetoid belt filled with icy bodies, and many unprepared
starfarers find themselves filling their fuel tanks with the ice of these
ice planetoids.  Orbit one is occupied by a single small planetoid.  The
outer orbits are also filled with other planets, but Helios has yet to begin
to explore the potential resources of these planets.
