The heart of the Alrakis system consists of two yellow-whitestarsorbiting one another at a distance of about 90 AU, a mutual orbit that take nearly seven centuries to complete.
The view from a hypothetical planet in the Alrakis system. Bright in the sky are the twin
stars that make up the core of the system. The third and more
distant component, Alrakis C, shines like a 'morning star'.
The name Alrakis (or commonly Arrakis) comes from Arabic, and means 'The Dancer'. This is indeed an appropriate name for a three-star
system, where the two major components are almost identical stars rotating around their common centre
of gravity. A third, fainter, star pursues a more distant orbit
around these two.
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