Unusual Heavenly Bodies In The Man-Kzin Wars Series

Poul Anderson imagined unusual heavenly bodies and added three more in his Man-Kzin Wars trilogy. Each of these three works describes an expedition to an unusual astronomical object.

In "Iron," a rogue red dwarf star and its planetary system, almost as old as the universe, have gathered nebular and intergalactic matter that forms a single multiplex molecule on one planetary surface.

In "Inconstant Star," an artifact surrounding a radiating mini black is used as a weapon.

In "Pele," a star not yet fully formed has six eccentrically orbiting planets, including one inwardly spiraling super-Jovian, its atmosphere distended into a long ovoid, that will soon break up and collide with its primary.

Thus, endless cosmic imagination. Of course, man-kzin conflict happens at all three because that is the series we are in but Anderson's imagination transcends petty matters like interstellar empires!