Solar

General

Games

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Solar
Planetary Compendium
Stellar Class	M
Radius	8,163 skm
Gravity	32 mG
Equilibrium Temperature	3,500 Kelvin
Number of Object(s)	Lava Bombs Solar Prominences
Political Information
Inhabitant(s)	Vulcain Gores Anglar army Solar Satellite
Appearance(s)
Main Game(s)
Comic(s)

“General Pepper's Flight Log, pg 70
Scientists have been saying for years that nothing could possiblily live on this star's surface, but we've scanned Andross's ships going to and from the star. Only he would be foolhardy as to try to find military benefit in exploring a red dwarf like Solar. It's another situation we need to have you to check out for us Fox. Nothing in the Cornerian armoury can withstand the extreme temperature near the surface of the star, but your Arwings should be able to make it.”

—

Solar is a molten planet situated in the Lylat System. Cornerian scientists speculate the reason for the planet's molten state is due to it being sited in the middle of the Sector X-Y-Z nebulae triangle. Regardless of the intense conditions, Solar was the site of several battles, notably during the Lylat Wars and the Anglar Blitz.

Overview

“Planetary Compendium
The entire surface of Solar is covered with molten magma. Scientists are still uncertain as to why the planet never cooled from its original formation and remains in this "genesis" state. Some say that its position, directly in the center of the Sector X-Y-Z Triangle, may be the cause.”

—

Its surface temperature around 3,500 K,* sometimes mistaking this planet as an M-class red dwarf star. In comparison, Lylat, a B-Class blue star, has a surface temperature of over 25,000 K. However, because it burns hotter and faster, a blue star has a life expectancy of a couple million years- the largest O and B type stars only last around a million. Solar burns much slower and so will last much longer; scientists predict it will live for about a hundred billion years, if not more.

Solar's surface temperature may be higher than 3,500 K. The Arwings used by the Star Fox team are shielded against temperatures up to 9,000 degrees (Centigrade or Fahrenheit is not specified, although 3,500 K is still lower than 9,000 ºF or 9,000 ºC [3,500 K = 5,840.33 ºF and 3,226.85 ºC, to be exact]) but when flying over Solar in Star Fox 64, the team's Arwings will slowly take damage from Solar's heat, implying that the planet is hotter than 3,500 K or probably the Arwing's temperature is slowly rising while flying in Solar so that the Arwing is damaged from constant heat. It is worth mentioning that the Arwing cannot be destroyed in Solar's heat, however, only stripped down to a point where one hit will take it down.

History

Lylat Wars

“Lylat Datalink; One cool hot spot pg 75
With a surface temperature in excess of 3,500 degrees Kelvin, Solar is the undisputed hot spot in the Lylat System. When measured against other stars in the system, however, Solar looks downright frigid. Solar is a red M-Class dwarf, one of the coldest stars in the universe. In contrast, Solar's antithesis, a B-Class blue star, has a searing temperature of 25,000 degrees Kelvin and a life expectancy of a couple billion years. Luckily, M-Class stars burn the slowest and last the longest. Scentists predict that Solar will keep shining in the Lylat System for 100 billion years or more.”

—

In the Comic

Solar appears in the Lylat Wars Comic, where events are both similar and different to the game's continuity. Arriving at the next mission, General Pepper assures the team that the Arwings will be able to withstand the extreme conditions on Solar. Although up to 9,000 degrees is the maximum strain the Arwing can endure, Slippy's scans of the surface indicate an even higher 13,000. Vulcian emerges from the lava, but is defeated by Fox ramming into its core. Suddenly the time bomb on Fox's Arwing goes off, making a deep hole in the hull, in addition, Falco and Slippy suffer the same fate. Pigma Dengar arrives at the scene, revealing that the Octopus on the hangar was a disguised spacecraft. But Pigma's scheme is foiled when the downed Arwings are lifted up by a tractor beam, revealed to be Falco's old wingmate Katt Monroe, much to his humiliation. Andrew and Pigma continue where they left off and attack the Catspaw. Suddenly Wolf arrives and opens fire on his teammates, scorning them both and expels them from Star Wolf for acting without his approval. Wolf leaves the scene after reasoning that saving Fox's life is because he is Wolf's enemy, and their grudge has not yet been settled.

Trivia

• It was believed that Lylat was a binary star system, as the Nintendo Power guide calls Solar a star; however, the official Star Fox 64 website and subsequently "Command" both consider Solar to be a planet, and the latter even depicts it with some solid patches of ground. Japanese materials reveal that Solar was always intended to be a planet, making this information either a mistranslation or a one-time localization. It is possible that Solar, like the planets Saturn or Jupiter in our own star system, is in fact a gas planet that generates some of its own heat but still receives most of its energy from the parent Lylat star.
• It's possible that Solar is a brown dwarf, an object massive enough to generate its own heat and light but not massive enough to be a star. The first real brown dwarf was discovered in 1995, after the release of Star Fox but before Solar's first appearance in Star Fox 64.
• According to 64's source files, Solar was indeed called "Sun" through most of development.
• In an interview for Star Fox 64 3D, the developers revealed they considered changing Solar to a star for the remake.
• The Mission "Out of the Frying Pan" from "Star Fox 64" references the phrase, "To go out of the frying pan into the fire," which means, "To go from one bad situation to a worse one."
• Wolf saving Fox and his team from Pigma and Andrew on Solar during the Solar scenario of the "Lylat Wars Comic" not only predates his friend or foe character story arc depicted in "Star Fox: Assault", but also the Solar Missions in "Star Fox Command" where Wolf did become allies with Fox against a common enemy once again, but only until their rivalry could resume.
  • During the same instance depicted in the "Lylat Wars Comic", Wolf also expels Pigma and Andrew from his team for their disobedience, years before he would eventually also do in the storyline of "Star Fox: Assault".

Names in Other Languages

Language	Name
Japanese	(ソーラ, Sōra)

References

• NINTENDO POWER: Official Nintendo Player's Guide. Redmond, WA, Nintendo of America. 1997.
• .com
• Star Fox 64 Keibunsha Guide. Nintendo of Japan. 1997.
• Krystal Archive