Distance of the 12 Colonies

[Skydiver]

some of them might not be planets as much as moons. Jupiter's biggest moon, Triton, could be seen as a planet

that would also explain having them close enough to interact and know of each other. To have the events on one effect another, all the religious strife, etc.

calling them all the '12 colonies' kinda suggests to me that they all started from one core planet and spread out. Unless caprica was the main planet, the others off shoots of caprica, and they ended up calling themselves the 12 colonies simply to not sound discriminatory 'i'm from caprica, i'm from the fatherland, you're just a colonist' stuff

[Osiristi]

I believe the core planet Skydiver refers to is Kobol. Thirteen tribes left Kobol to find new colonies. That's what is said in the Sacred Scrolls of Pythia.

[Skydiver]

cool, thanks, so they left kobol and settled in the colonies, which may or may not be full bodied planets as much as maybe moons in a system

my astronomy is a bit rusty, but don't we have moons in our system that are bigger than our planets? If some are moons that could also explain having 12 different habitable space bodies in one solar system.

[Sp!der]

cool, thanks, so they left kobol and settled in the colonies, which may or may not be full bodied planets as much as maybe moons in a system

my astronomy is a bit rusty, but don't we have moons in our system that are bigger than our planets? If some are moons that could also explain having 12 different habitable space bodies in one solar system.

maybe thats why tauron had no flowers on the planet, moon or whatever.... joseph mentioned smth like that in caprica.

[aarlin81]

cool, thanks, so they left kobol and settled in the colonies, which may or may not be full bodied planets as much as maybe moons in a system

my astronomy is a bit rusty, but don't we have moons in our system that are bigger than our planets? If some are moons that could also explain having 12 different habitable space bodies in one solar system.

OK let's see if we can't clear this up along with people still thinking that a star system is just like a solar system.

From the Battlestar Wiki:

The Twelve Colonies of Kobol are located in the star system Cyrannus. <----FICTIONAL

During the Cylon attack one Hybrid indicates that the Colonies orbit three stars (The Plan). It is also known that at least some of the Colonies share their orbits (Caprica Pilot, TV version).

While Elosha stated that the Tribes settled onto "twelve worlds", the exact definition of "world" remains ambiguous. Although the Colonies are defined as independent, habitable celestial bodies, it is not known, whether they only include major planets or other astronomical objects such as moons, minor planets or even asteroids.

Prior to their destruction, the Twelve Colonies had approximately 50 billion inhabitants (A Disquiet Follows My Soul).

Some notes (emphasis mine):

• The fact, that the Colonies are located within one system originates from a blog entry by Ronald D. Moore.
• Jane Espenson revealed on Twitter that the Colonies are within a star cluster and share some orbits. The latter fact was finally shown to be true in the TV version of the series premiere of Caprica.
• According to Serge's Twitter Account the Colonies orbit four stars in a star cluster, one of which is described as an "outlier". Also, some of the worlds (such as Aquaria) are barely inhabitable.

[shipper hannah]

maybe thats why tauron had no flowers on the planet, moon or whatever.... joseph mentioned smth like that in caprica.

Being a moon doesn't exclude it having flora and fauna. It could still be either a planet or a moon.

[aarlin81]

Being a moon doesn't exclude it having flora and fauna. It could still be either a planet or a moon.

Asteroids too.

I'd like to point something out after having a conversation with a friend. Some of you seem to think this 3/4 star system is either 3 stars orbiting around each other each as their own solar system or a solar system with 3 stars in the middle and all 12 worlds orbiting them. This may be because someone referred to it earlier as a trinary system.

First as mentioned earlier, it 4 stars. For whatever reason it (fourth) is called an "outlier".

I would also like to provide an artistic depiction of a REAL triple star system (HD188753). Please keep in mind that while the two outer stars appears to be very close they are in fact VERY VERY far apart.

[Osiristi]

By the way, Philomon stated in the newest ep (Know Thy Enemy): "Twelve planets, and not one woman is interested in me."


v - Hopefully Evelyn will become Bill's stepmom. Teryl is a terrific actress!

[aarlin81]

The general consensus is that they were all planets but often referred to as "worlds" because of asteroids, moons, etc that had also been colonized.

Then again it could also be a generic term. Caprica has made a few minor alteration from BSG such as the name of William Adama's mother. Then again as the dossier was hurried the fact that Evelyn was listed as his mother rather than his step-mother.

[aarlin81]

I think the general consensus for now is they are planets and "worlds" is used to mean the planets and sub-colonies like moons, asteroids, etc. Then again it may turn out to be a generic term.

[Skydiver]

it may also be that they're all called 'planets' as a sign of equality rather than 'planets and moons and asteroids of the....whatever'

Kinda like calling all the US' states, states, with no size requirement, thus symbolizing that they are all equal

i guess what i'm getting at,t he term doesn't have to be astronomically accurate, but a symbol of equality and equal status

[aarlin81]

it may also be that they're all called 'planets' as a sign of equality rather than 'planets and moons and asteroids of the....whatever'

Kinda like calling all the US' states, states, with no size requirement, thus symbolizing that they are all equal

i guess what i'm getting at,t he term doesn't have to be astronomically accurate, but a symbol of equality and equal status

Errr....whaa?

I suggest looking up a few terms like state and sovereign state as well as federated state (U.S.). Your analogy is not entirely accurate beyond what we know about the Quorum of Twelve (each colony gets a vote). We don't know the extent of the role and powers before the exodus.

However, Caprica takes place prior to the unification of the twelve colonies established under the Articles of Colonization (signed 52 years before The Fall). Before this each colony was essentially a sovereign state/nation.