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Arrakis - Arrakis is also an alternative name for the star Mu Draconis.
Arrakis, later Rakis (known colloquially as "Dune") is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, where it is the home of the Fremen (Zensunni wanderers) and later, the Imperial Capital under Muad'Dib's Empire. Arrakis is the third planet orbiting the star Canopus, and it in turn is orbited by two moons, one of which has the image of the desert kangaroo-rat, Muad'Dib, on it; the other possessing the image of a human hand. It is a desert planet with no natural precipitation, and is the only known source of the spice Melange which makes interstellar travel possible. Giant sandworms (Shai-Hulud (later Shaitan)) and their immature forms of Sandtrout and Sandplankton were the only fauna on the planet when it was discovered, but large salt flats, indicative of extinct oceans, show that they cannot be native lifeforms. Early in the history of Arrakis, the Imperium made several attempts to terraform the planet, which resulted in an abundance of Terran desert life on the planet, but met with little success, as the local Sandtrout consume any open water on the planet. The Zensunni wanderers, driven from planet to planet, eventually found their way to Arrakis where they becam the Fremen. They settled in artificial cave-like cities known as seitches across the Arrakeen deserts. They also developed stillsuit technology, allowing them to survive on the open desert. By harvesting the Spice of Arrakis, they were able to bribe the Spacing Guild into privacy from observation and weather control, allowing the Fremen to hide their true population and plans from the Imperium. The Fremen attempted their own terraforming program under the guidance of Imperial Planetologist Pardot Kynes and his son Liet-Kynes. The core of the plan was gradual water-collection from the Arrakeen atmosphere to form large reservoirs that would, eventually, become lakes and oceans. Much of this activity took place in the unexplored southern lattitudes of Arrakis. The most well known of the seitches is Seitch Tabr, home of Stilgar and Muad'Dib's center of operations prior to the Battle of Arrakeen. Arrakis' capital and largest city historically is Arrakeen (later Onn under Leto II and Keen following the death of Leto II). Arrakeen housed an attractive palace where the Emperor's right-hand man, Count Fenring and his wife lived, while the Harkonnen rulers of the planet resided in their own palace, elsewhere. Arrakeen would go through multiple transformations in its history, turned into an Imperial Capital of staggering proportions under Muad'Dib, then into a festival city (Onn) explicitly for the worship of Leto II and, finally, into a modern, though still impressive, city to house the Priesthood of Rakis (Keen). There are other cities scattered in the northern regions of the planet (especially near the ice cap, where water is harvested), as well as the seitches scattered throughout the desert where the Fremen reside. All Imperial cities on Arrakis are in the far-northern lattitudes of the planet and protected from the violent weather of Arrakis by a natural formation known as the Shield Wall. During Arrakis' years under Harkonnen rule, the true seat of planetary government was the Harkonnen-built "megalopolis" of Carthag; Arrakis was merely the titular capital until the arrival of the Atreides rulers and Muad'Dib. Other notable sites on Arrakis throughout its history are: Observatory Mountain, Mount Idaho, the Sareer, Dar-es-balat, the Idaho River and many others. Several years prior to the creation of the spacing guild the Zensunni wanderers originally crashed on Dune in a prototype warp vessel (one of the precursors to the Spacing Guild vessels of the original Dune novels). They were escaping slaves. In the year 10,191 A.G. (Anno Guild) the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV granted Duke Leto of the Atreides family rule of Arrakis in place of their enemies, the Harkonnens. The Atreides took up residence in the Arrakeen Palace, but their rule was short due to a conspiratorial plan by the Harkonnen and Imperial Sardaukar. However, in 10,193 A.G., under the leadership of Muad'Dib and using the Atreides' family atomic explosives, the Fremen created a gap in the Shield Wall near Arrakeen and rode into the city on Sandworm. In the ensuing battle the Harkonnen were wiped out and Shaddam IV was deposed in place of Paul-Muad'Dib. The planet then became the center of his Empire for the remainder of his life. Following that, Leto II, Muad'Dib's son, became the Emperor and completed the terraforming of Arrakis at the expense of killing all Sandworms and Sandtrout--save for himself, who had merged with the creatures. After some 3,500 years of rule, Leto II was killed and his worm-body was transformed back into Sandtrout who, within only a few centuries, returned Arrakis to a desert. Ultimately, all life on Arrakis was destroyed by the Honored Matres in an attempt to kill a ghola of Duncan Idaho. They failed to kill their target and the Bene Gesserit escaped with a single Sandworm. Trivia - A planet named Arrakis is referenced in the TV show Futurama.
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