Alden, also known as the Alden Colony, is a settlement near the F0V star HD 178934, about 320 light-years from the Sundom of Eris. It's one of the early Tallisite attempts at living near really bright stars, dating back to the late -100s CE. What makes it special is its huge Solar Dust farms and the way they've settled in the twilight zone.
Alden orbits HD 178934, which is a G5V main sequence star that's about 7,200K on the surface. It's a lot brighter than Eris – about 4.8 times as bright, in fact. The planet's orbit is a bit weird, which means there's this permanent twilight zone where most of the settlements are. The high stellar luminosity creates crazy temperature differences between the day and night sides, so you really don't want to be on the wrong side of the planet.
They first spotted Alden way back in -1893 CE, but it took a while to get there because they didn't have hyperlight travel yet. The Tallisite Expansion Initiative started colonising it in the early -100s, focusing on the twilight regions where the temperature wasn't trying to cook you alive.
Alden got officially recognised as a colony in -42 CE, making it one of the first successful Tallisite colonies. The early settlers had a rough time dealing with the radiation, which led to them developing special building and farming techniques. These techniques ended up influencing colonial designs all over the World Unity.
Alden's claim to fame is its Solar Dust farms. Because of the bright star, they're able to make a lot of power and sell it to other worlds. These farms use microscopic photovoltaic particles floating in the upper atmosphere to soak up sunlight. The Alden Colonial Government controls most of these farms (about 78%), but there are also some private companies involved.
They generate way more power than they need, so they export Solar Dust to Tallis, other World Unity settlements, and even the Theotech Corporate Sovereignty. This has made Alden a major power supplier and helped its economy a lot.
I had a very memorable experience on Alden. After a long day of travelling and speaking to the locals, I decided to eschew the usual lodging and sleep out in the desert, in an area rich in solar dust. It was quite something, let me tell you.
The rings of Alden were visible in the night sky, shimmering with an ethereal glow. Lying there, surrounded by the quiet vastness of the desert, I felt a profound connection to the planet. It was a moment of pure serenity, a stark contrast to the technological marvels that define Alden's economy. A humbling experience, and one I would highly recommend.