Project Phanes: The Natural History of the Phanes System and the Planet Atmos
A speculative evolution project
In the distant future, within a nearby galaxy, a solar system much like our own harbors the star Phanes. This F3.2V-class star takes its name from the Orphic deity Phanes, the hermaphroditic god of light, creation, and renewal. Just as the god Phanes is said to have emerged from a cosmic egg to give light and life to the new universe, the star Phanes will be a cradling egg for life in its system.
Orbiting Phanes is a vast collection of celestial bodies—planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and an immense cloud of gas and cosmic debris. Among them, the most remarkable is a planet not unlike Earth, a blue ball named Atmos.
Soon, a series of complex biochemical reactions—driven by atmospheric chemistry, energy from Phanes, underwater hydrothermal vents, and the interplay of organic molecules—will give rise to the first self-replicating life forms on Atmos. In time, these primitive organic compounds will organize into the planet’s first living cells—simple prokaryotic organisms akin to modern bacteria. For millions of years, these microbes will thrive in Atmos’s primordial oceans, evolving diverse metabolic strategies to harness energy from their surroundings. Some will develop the ability to convert sunlight into chemical energy, releasing oxygen as a byproduct and gradually altering the planet’s atmosphere. Others will thrive in the deep-sea vents, relying on chemosynthesis to fuel their survival. As eons pass, competition, adaptation, and genetic innovation will drive life toward greater complexity. Eventually, descending from a single universal common ancestor—which we will call Protogenos—a vast and intricate web of life will unfold, shaping the future of Atmos and forever redefining the Phanes system.
Continue on to the emergence of life on Atmos, in the Protogenocian...
Above: Protogenos (First Ancestor).