Known Universe

This article or section refers to elements from Original Dune

There are separate pages for this subject as it appears in the other canons, the reasons for this are explained here

Known Universe in Expanded Dune

Known Universe in the Dune Encyclopedia

The term the Known Universe referred to the area of

the portion of the Universe that was explored and
documented by humans. The vast majority of this
space was claimed to be within the Imperium, the
realm of the Padishah Emperors (who referred to
themselves as "Padishah Emperors of the Known
Universe" as a result).

Though the Padishah Emperors laid claim to ruling the

Known Universe, in reality, it was considered to be at
least slightly greater than the size of the Imperium
itself. During the reign of the God-Emperor Leto
Atreides II, the Bene Tleilax sought to establish
colonies outside of the God-Emperor's Empire, but still
within the Known Universe, for instance. The Tleilaxu
believed that Leto's prescience ended at the borders of
the Imperium (they were incorrect, however, as Leto
came to demonstrate).

The size of the Known Universe increased sporadically

over history, as humanity explored more and more of
previously uncharted space. The most significant
growth came at two specific historical points:

when space folding was invented, following the

Butlerian Jihad, and
when The Scattering occurred, following the
death of the God-Emperor.

The second instance was facilitated by the invention of

Ixian No-ships, which did not require a melange-
addicted Guild Navigator to pilot.

Behind the Scenes Edit

The borders of the Known Universe are never accurately described. Even after the merger of the Bene Gesserit and the
Honored Matres, when the Known Universe was larger than it had ever been, the full extent of manned space is undisclosed.

However, some projections can be made, based upon the known locations of stars, and basic Dune history. The human race
began on Old Earth, and colonized numerous worlds around other stars. These ranged from nearby stars within 20 light years, to
several stars 100-200 light-years away from Earth, and the furthest known colonized star of the Imperium, Beta Lyncis, which
was 410 light-years away. However, even Beta Lyncis (and its planet Ishia) is well within the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Also, it seems that the Old Imperium remained centered on the general region of Earth - consider that the Atreides and
Harkonnen homeworlds, Caladan and Geidi Prime, were each about 20 light years from Old Earth respectively. Assuming that
the Dune series takes place in the Milky Way Galaxy, it can be clearly surmised that the Old Imperium remained situated in the
Orion Arm (even though Frank Herbert calls it a "multigalactic empire"). Taking Frank Herbert's words into account, it is possible
that the Imperium extended outside of this region of the Milky Way Galaxy, encompassing the entire Milky Way, and extending
into the nearby Andromeda Galaxy (such as Tupile, or the Ixian colony that Leto II discovered through prescient vision), with only
the most prominent planets of the pre-Scattering Imperium being in the Orion Arm. The Scattering changed all this, however -
the people of the Scattering not only spread throughout the Milky Way Galaxy, but made fold-space jumps to other galaxies,
such as Andromeda. In this way, people lived too far and wide to be governed by a single prescient force, as God-Emperor Leto
II had intended. This, combined with the prescience-cloaking genes spread by Siona Atreides' descendants, achieved Leto II's
Golden Path.

See also Edit

The Stars and Planets of Frank Herbert's Dune: A Gazetteer

External links Edit

Dune universe maps and Gazetteer

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