Congratulations to Thalasi, who is our Planet Exploration Contest Winner. The entry is listed below.  

Contest Winner - Thalasi

This is the extinct planet of Venthrak IX.

Its indigenous people, known to themselves as Thrak, were a race of xenophobes, capable of warp drive but shunning it nonetheless preferring instead to keep to themselves. To that end they devoted the whole of their technological might to the development of powerful weapon systems to punish any aliens that would dare invade their space.

When a species known as the Vosi attempted settlement of Venthrak IX's lone moon, which was uninhabitable to the Thraks, a horrible war ensued. The Vosi, while not by nature a warlike people were more than capable of defending themselves and dug in to their new home in the hopes of wearing down the Thrak through a war of attrition.

The Thrak soon grew impatient and planned to release the culmination of two centuries of weapons development on what was dubbed an infestation on the purity of the Ventrak system. The weapon, officially known as the Simultaneous Deep Core Exponential Discharge Mine(or as "The Lava Bomb" to the people), had the ability to start a massive chain reaction in a planetary core that forced all internal magma to the surface over the course of mere minutes. The intent of the device was to cause global destruction thereby scouring the alien plague from the surface. In a grave miscalculation the high level of magnesite ore in the core resulted in a cataclysmic explosion that fractured the moon into dozens of pieces.

The people of Venthrak IX were initially overjoyed to have destroyed the menace even at the cost of their own moon but their jubilation was to be short lived. As gravitational forces pulled the debris of the the former moon into a loose ring it began having adverse effects on its host planet. It started with tidal waves resulting in frequent and unpredictable flooding and soon came to include a constant withering storm that engulfed the planet. Eventually the worst was realized with the breakdown of the magnetosphere resulting in heavy bombardment of solar winds which would go on to burn off much of the atmosphere and liquid from Venthrak IX, leaving it a husk of its former self. The Thrak were unable to evacuate their homeworld in the midst of this disaster due to a generally low number and ships coupled with their neglected propulsion technology. The few that did survive have not been officially heard from since and while rumors persist that the Romulans have sought Lava Bomb technology their is no evidence that either the technology or the people still exist.

Today the planet Venthrak IX is a dry and dusty place covered with the dilapidated ruins of a once great civilization. Because of the intense radiation and strong winds no life remains on what was a lush paradise. Its story is still told at Starfleet Academy as a warning to those who would fear or hate that such a thing is often as destructive for yourself as it is for others.