Editing Skoria

The abundance of water on Skoria's surface is a unique feature that distinguishes that planet  from the others in the [[Alakaram System]]. The planet's hydrosphere consists chiefly of the oceans, but technically includes all water surfaces in the world, including inland seas, lakes, rivers, and underground waters down to a depth of 2,000 m. The deepest underwater location is in the Western Ocean with a depth of −10,911.4 m.  The average depth of the oceans is 3,800 m, more than four times the average height of the continents.

Apart from meteors within the atmosphere and low-orbiting satellites, the main apparent motion of celestial bodies in the planet's sky is to the west at a rate of 15°/h = 15'/min. This is equivalent to an apparent diameter of Alakaram every two minutes.

Skoria orbits Alakaram at an average distance of about 150 million kilometers every 365.2564 mean solar days, or one sidereal year. From Skoria, this gives an apparent movement of Skor eastward with respect to the stars at a rate of about 1°/day, or a Solar diameter every 12 hours. Because of this motion, on average it takes 24 hours—a solar day—for Skoria to complete a full rotation about its axis so that Alakaram returns to the meridian. The orbital speed of the planet averages about 30 km/s (108,000 km/h), which is fast enough to cover the planet's diameter (about 12,600 km) in seven minutes, and the distance to it's Moon (384,000 km) in four hours.

The Moon, Shayala, revolves with the planet around a common barycenter every 27.32 days relative to the background stars. When combined with the Skoria-Shayala system's common revolution around Alakaram, the period of the synodic month, from new moon to new moon, is 29.53 days. Viewed from the celestial north pole, the motion of Skoria, the Moon and their axial rotations are all counter-clockwise. Viewed from a vantage point above the north poles of both the Alakaram and Skoria, the latter appears to revolve in a counterclockwise direction about the prior. The orbital and axial planes are not precisely aligned: Skoria's axis is tilted some 23.5 degrees from the perpendicular to the Skoria–Alakaram plane, and the Skoria- Shayala plane is tilted about 5 degrees against the Skoria-Alakaram plane. Without this tilt, there would be an eclipse every two weeks, alternating between lunar eclipses and solar eclipses.

The gravitational sphere of influence, of the planet is about 1.5 Gm (or 1,500,000 kilometers) in radius. This is maximum distance at which the planet's gravitational influence is stronger than the more distant Sun or planets. Objects must orbit the Skoria within this radius, or they can become unbound by the gravitational perturbation of Alakaram.

Skoria, along with the [[Alakaram System]], is situated in the Milky Way galaxy, orbiting about 28,000 light years from the center of the galaxy, and about 20 light years above the galaxy's equatorial plane spanning the border between the [[Alpha Quadrant|Alpha]] and the [[Beta Quadrant]] of the Orion spiral arm.

Because of the axial tilt of the planet, the amount of sunlight reaching the surface varies over the course of the year. This results in seasonal change in climate, with summer in the northern hemisphere occurring when the north pole is pointing toward Alakaram, and winter taking place when the pole is pointed away. During the summer, the day lasts longer and Alakaram climbs higher in the sky. In winter, the climate becomes generally cooler and the days shorter. Above the arctic circle, an extreme case is reached where there is no daylight at all for part of the year—a polar night. In the southern hemisphere the situation is exactly reversed, with the south pole oriented opposite the direction of the north pole.

From space, the planet can be seen to go through phases similar to the phases it's Moon. By astronomical convention, the four seasons are determined by the solstices—the point in the orbit of maximum axial tilt toward or away from Alakaram—and the equinoxes, when the direction of the tilt and the direction to Alakaram are perpendicular.  

The angle of the planet's tilt is relatively stable over long periods of time. However, the tilt does undergo nutation; a slight, irregular motion with a main period of 18.6 years. The orientation (rather than the angle) of Skoria's axis also changes over time, precessing around in a complete circle over each 25,800 year cycle; this precession is the reason for the difference between a sidereal year and a tropical year. Both of these motions are caused by the varying attraction of Alakaram and Shayala on the planet's equatorial bulge. From the perspective of Skoria, the poles also migrate a few meters across the surface. This polar motion has multiple, cyclical components, which collectively are termed quasi periodic motion. In addition to an annual component to this motion, there is a 14-month cycle called the Ald'ar wobble. The rotational velocity of the planet also varies in a phenomenon known as length of day variation.

Since the southern hemisphere is tilted toward Alakaram at about the same time that the planet reaches the closest approach to the Sun, the southern hemisphere receives slightly more energy from Alakaram than does the northern over the course of a year. However, this effect is much less significant than the total energy change due to the axial tilt, and most of the excess energy is absorbed by the higher proportion of water in the southern hemisphere.