Ceres Mater is a world superficially similar to Ceres in the Old Solar System, but has more than twice the radius. Large, ancient domed habitats cover its surface.
Star Lambda Arae Type F3IV Luminosity 4.91 x Sol Distance from Sol 70 ly
An early Keterist colony populated by the nanocyborg Clade Columbia-Bartlebel emigrating from Ceres. The clade was distantly descended from survivors of the Last War who had supported GAIA, and after voluntarily leaving Earth they quickly established a matriarchy. The colony was administered by the transapient known as Cheshed the Giftbringer, later the leading archailect of the Utopia Sphere.
Ceres Mater was a charter member of the late First Federation, supporting the social idealism movement. Starting in the mid-20th century A.T the colonists of Ceres Mater and their AI matron undertook a migration outwards to the distant Beta Arae region, setting out to found a utopia. The first of these worlds to be colonized and terraformed was Topia. The Beta Ara region became the centre of the Utopia Sphere.
Largely abandoned, Ceres Mater languished for several millennia inhabited by a remnant population that had sunk into technotribalism. In the early Age of Re-Evaluation renewed interest in the origin of the Sephirotic Empires led to the formation of a conservation trust to maintain this archaeologically significant site. Ceres Mater has become an eminent destination for pilgrimage by both the Keter faithful and Utopia Sphere citizens. An adjacent complex has been proposed to support the tourism and academic interest the site attracts, but litigation by various parties of interest has so far delayed construction.