Location: Cetus Beta Sector
Claimed by: Free Union

The Nomsindo system lies within the Gulf of Cetus. This lonely system, tens of light-years distant from any other stars, is dominated by its own titanic star, and only a few barren rock worlds orbit at great distance, their atmospheres blasted away by the powerful stellar winds. Though the system is claimed by the Free Union, the only presence in the system is a small stellar research station staffed mostly by Etherna scientists.

Type: Blue Supergiant
Radius: 25 Standard
Mass: 57.8 Standard
Black-body Temperature: 42,000K

Named after the Xhosa word for Anger, Nomsindo is a violently active blue supergiant star. It is fairly young, having formed only 1 billion years ago, and quickly burned through its supply of hydrogen. The huge star now fuses larger atoms, and emits massive quantities of light and powerful radiation. Nomsindo is prone to occasional periods of violent instability, where it sheds planet-scale ejections of matter, focused in tight beams by its swirling electromagnetic weather patterns. It is clearly visible from everywhere within the nearby 4 sectors, and is of great scientific interest, due to its youth as a star and the strange particles it spits out during its unstable periods.

Type: Barren World

Nomsindo I is a large, barren silicate rock, devoid of any atmosphere. It is orbited by three moons, which have prevented its rotation from becoming tidally locked, and the gravitational forces they exert on the planet's core has allowed it to remain geologically active. The surface of Nomsindo I is covered with a deep layer of dust, as the huge heat differential between day and night causes the rock to shatter into a fine powder.

There is an Etherna stellar research station on Nomsindo I, dedicated to studying the violent star and its emissions. During the day it is protected from the star by powerful shields, cobbled-together on similar principles to the artefact planetary shields of Thern II, and powered by geothermal energy from the planets warm core. The station is isolated and oppressively close, although a recently completed bio-dome with a forested ecosystem provides the inhabitants with some comfort. Recent experiments involving Exotic Particles interacting with unstable stellar radiation have uncovered some insights that may greatly advance shielding technology.

Type: Barren World

With a highly eccentric orbit, Nomsindo II and its six tiny moons are believed to have been a rogue planet captured by the gravity of the massive star. They orbit at huge distance from the star, and have not been considered to be worthwhile for exploration or surveying in any great depth.