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Description
Cerberus (also called Lasobi) is a habitable super-Earth orbiting within a binary star system. It is inhabited by complex extraterrestrial life.

Cerberus orbits an orange dwarf star within an s-class binary system shared by a smaller, dimmer, red dwarf star. These two stars are flare-stars, periodically ejecting high-energy particles in bursts which commonly strike Cerberus' surface. Cerberus orbits at a distance of 0.51 AU, and a period of 159 Earth-days (0.44 Earth-years). With a rotational period of 44.3 Earth-hours (1.85 Earth-days), days are slow on Cerberus, and this tied with its thin atmosphere provide the exoplanet with intense variations in temperature throughout the day. Light intensities are also variable depending on the time of year, as both the closer orange dwarf star alongside its red dwarf companion will change in position within the sky over time. Because of this, despite Cerberus' small axial tilt of 2.45°, seasons are thus highly variable, and temperatures on the surface of the exoplanet regardless of latitude are unpredictable.

Cerberus has a mass of 2.3 Earths, and a diameter of 1.35 Earths (17,214 km), making it a super-Earth. Its surface gravity is a crushing 1.27 g (12.48 metres per second squared), and thus complications arise regarding movement on the exoplanet's surface alongside dispersal of species. Nonetheless, living organisms on its surface are varied and diverse, and can make do in their harsh environment.

The exoplanet's modern-day atmosphere is thin, with an average surface pressure of 88.3 kPa (0.87 atm). The atmosphere is primarily composed of nitrogen (70%), oxygen (23%), argon (2%), neon (2%), and carbon dioxide (3%), with trace gasses including methane and water vapour. While similar in composition to Earth, the abundance of trace gasses and carbon dioxide result in an atmosphere toxic to humans. The average surface temperature is 6.5°C (279.5 K), but temperatures on Cerberus' surface vary widely from -120°C to over 70°C, both latitudinally, regionally, and temporally with the exoplanet's chaotic seasons and long days and nights. Thus, life forms on Cerberus' surface are exposed to wide environmental extremes.

However, in Cerberus' past its atmosphere was thicker, and its oceans deeper. Cerberus was once a water world, with a global ocean over a kilometre deep. Throughout its history, its oceans have depleted and its atmosphere has thinned. What was once a global ocean has now diminished into isolated seas and lakes. Due to the atmospheric circulation of the exoplanet, these are now present in three latitudinal bands: an equatorial band, and two bands at 60° north and south of Cerberus' equator. Between these "habitable bands", the surface of Cerberus is arid and devoid of life, and the majority of Cerberus' surface is desertic. In a sense, the exoplanet is dying, and within a few hundred million years it will no longer be habitable to life.

Cerberus' gradual desiccation is due to two main factors: its relatively weak magnetic field, and the flare activity of its two parent stars. The only other exoplanet in its system, Orthrus (also known as Idell), is a small, barren world at only 0.27 Earth masses. It lacks an atmosphere and does not possess life - it has already succumbed to the intense stellar wind.

Life on Cerberus is surprisingly diverse. Photosynthetic organisms use red-coloured pigments to harvest stellar energy. These 'plants' only grow where water is available, and thus are restricted to Cerberus' three habitable bands, providing the exoplanet with a striking stripey appearance from space. Motile creatures - what might be termed 'animals' for lack of a better word - are separated by these bands, and within each habitable band evolution has carried life in its own unique direction, independent of the other two for millions of years. It happens that in one of these bands - the northern habitable band - a sapient race of sophonts, known as Lasobs, has emerged.

*****

This is a project I have been working on since 2017.
I am relatively new to speculative evolution in general (I hear there is a whole forum for it!), and my art skills are shaky at best, but I am hoping to add updated posts of this exoplanet, its lifeforms, and other content over time! So far I have designed most of the major evolutionary clades, and thus I hope to include these in the near future.

Corrections, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome.

Description
Cerberus (also called Lasobi) is a habitable super-Earth orbiting within a binary star system. It is inhabited by complex extraterrestrial life.

Cerberus orbits an orange dwarf star within an s-class binary system shared by a smaller, dimmer, red dwarf star. These two stars are flare-stars, periodically ejecting high-energy particles in bursts which commonly strike Cerberus' surface. Cerberus orbits at a distance of 0.51 AU, and a period of 159 Earth-days (0.44 Earth-years). With a rotational period of 44.3 Earth-hours (1.85 Earth-days), days are slow on Cerberus, and this tied with its thin atmosphere provide the exoplanet with intense variations in temperature throughout the day. Light intensities are also variable depending on the time of year, as both the closer orange dwarf star alongside its red dwarf companion will change in position within the sky over time. Because of this, despite Cerberus' small axial tilt of 2.45°, seasons are thus highly variable, and temperatures on the surface of the exoplanet regardless of latitude are unpredictable.

Cerberus has a mass of 2.3 Earths, and a diameter of 1.35 Earths (17,214 km), making it a super-Earth. Its surface gravity is a crushing 1.27 g (12.48 metres per second squared), and thus complications arise regarding movement on the exoplanet's surface alongside dispersal of species. Nonetheless, living organisms on its surface are varied and diverse, and can make do in their harsh environment.

The exoplanet's modern-day atmosphere is thin, with an average surface pressure of 88.3 kPa (0.87 atm). The atmosphere is primarily composed of nitrogen (70%), oxygen (23%), argon (2%), neon (2%), and carbon dioxide (3%), with trace gasses including methane and water vapour. While similar in composition to Earth, the abundance of trace gasses and carbon dioxide result in an atmosphere toxic to humans. The average surface temperature is 6.5°C (279.5 K), but temperatures on Cerberus' surface vary widely from -120°C to over 70°C, both latitudinally, regionally, and temporally with the exoplanet's chaotic seasons and long days and nights. Thus, life forms on Cerberus' surface are exposed to wide environmental extremes.

However, in Cerberus' past its atmosphere was thicker, and its oceans deeper. Cerberus was once a water world, with a global ocean over a kilometre deep. Throughout its history, its oceans have depleted and its atmosphere has thinned. What was once a global ocean has now diminished into isolated seas and lakes. Due to the atmospheric circulation of the exoplanet, these are now present in three latitudinal bands: an equatorial band, and two bands at 60° north and south of Cerberus' equator. Between these "habitable bands", the surface of Cerberus is arid and devoid of life, and the majority of Cerberus' surface is desertic. In a sense, the exoplanet is dying, and within a few hundred million years it will no longer be habitable to life.

Cerberus' gradual desiccation is due to two main factors: its relatively weak magnetic field, and the flare activity of its two parent stars. The only other exoplanet in its system, Orthrus (also known as Idell), is a small, barren world at only 0.27 Earth masses. It lacks an atmosphere and does not possess life - it has already succumbed to the intense stellar wind.

Life on Cerberus is surprisingly diverse. Photosynthetic organisms use red-coloured pigments to harvest stellar energy. These 'plants' only grow where water is available, and thus are restricted to Cerberus' three habitable bands, providing the exoplanet with a striking stripey appearance from space. Motile creatures - what might be termed 'animals' for lack of a better word - are separated by these bands, and within each habitable band evolution has carried life in its own unique direction, independent of the other two for millions of years. It happens that in one of these bands - the northern habitable band - a sapient race of sophonts, known as Lasobs, has emerged.

*****

This is a project I have been working on since 2017.
I am relatively new to speculative evolution in general (I hear there is a whole forum for it!), and my art skills are shaky at best, but I am hoping to add updated posts of this exoplanet, its lifeforms, and other content over time! So far I have designed most of the major evolutionary clades, and thus I hope to include these in the near future.

Corrections, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome.