3103: Exoplanet System

Exoplanet System

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Title text: Sure, this exoplanet we discovered may seem hostile to life, but our calculations suggest it's actually in the accretion disc's habitable zone.

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Explanation

This is one of 52 incomplete explanations: Explanations for the planets are missing. Do NOT create a table, unless it is impossible to convey that information without it. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

Exoplanets are planets outside the Solar System. Astronomers are constantly on the look for planets that have Earth-like conditions, especially Earth-like planets that might support life. Unfortunately for many hopefuls, the conditions that made Earth suitable for life are believed to be extremely rare. Randall draws a hypothetical star system containing many exoplanets that describe (in an exaggerated fashion) the many frustrations astronomers face when analyzing planets and getting their hopes up only to discover the planets they found are sadly nothing like Earth.

Here are the explanations for each planet, in order of how far they are from the star:

1. Giant planet orbiting so close that it's actually rolling on the star's surface

   Giant planets are often gravitationally pulled close to their star. Here, the planet is literally touching the star, which, given both bodies' gaseous makeup, should cause them to merge.

2. Hot Jupiter

   A Hot Jupiter is typical terminology used in analysing exoplanets, generally depicting a gas giant (of a size similar to our Jupiter or Saturn) which orbits in a much closer/hotter orbit than our own. Hot Jupiters are easier to detect than many other types of exoplanets, due to their gravitational effect on their stars.

3. Planet that may actually be in the habitable zone, according to a very optimistic modeling paper by some desperate postdocs

   The habitable zone of a star is the range at which water is liquid. Notably, planets in the habitable zone are seen as options for colonization by humanity, which would mean greater funding for research. As such, researchers will go to great lengths to determine as many habitable planets as they can.

4. There's a pulsar here but it's probably fine

   A pulsar is a neutron star, emitting beams of radiation while spinning very fast. Contrary to the label, presence of a neutron star in the system is probably not fine, since a second star would be source of gravitational instability, a lot of extra heat, and the beams of radiation pose substantial danger to the planets, rendering their surface uninhabitable. It also means, that this system is technically a binary star

5. A waterworld paradise with beautiful oceans and warm— wait, no, we just got new measurements, it's a hellish steam oven
6. Planet that could be habitable, if there's a form of life that hates water but loves acid and being on fire
7. Mini Neptune

   "Jupiter" and "Neptune" are rough size/mass categories for gas giants with a mass similar to Jupiter versus Neptune/Uranus. A mini Neptune would be smaller than Neptune, possibly small enough not to be a gas giant at all.

8. Lukewarm Jupiter

   A reference to Hot Jupiters and Cold Jupiters

9. Planet whose atmosphere is confirmed to contain atoms

   With interstellar distances, it is inevitable that some planets will be hard to get a read on. Here the astronomers can only confirm the planet has an atmosphere, not what it is made of or how thick it is.

10. Earthlike data artifact
11. Cold Jupiter
12. Potentially habitable void
13. Hot Mars
14. Faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted

    This could refer to either Fomalhaut b, aformer proposed exoplanet that turned out to be a dust cloud, or Tabby's Star, a star with odd irregular dimming pattern likely due to a dust cloud which was briefly thought by some to be an alien megastructure.^{[actual citation needed]}

15. Either a gas giant or a fist-sized rock, depending upon which calibration method you use
16. Mini Pluto
17. Wet Saturn

    May be a reference to the 'fact' that "Saturn would float in water" due to its density. The difficulties of finding a practical way to test this out, notwithstanding, perhaps someone managed it with this planet.

18. Planet whose surface may host conditions suitable for rocks

    As with planet number 8, this planet is too difficult to get a read on, and the measurements are still so vague it's still unknown if this planet is a rocky planet or a gas/ice giant.

19. Somehow this whole system is smaller than the orbit of Mercury?!

Title text

The title text mentions a planet within an accretion disk, which means that the planet is in the orbit of a black hole and will inevitably fall in. Nevertheless, the researcher speaking assures that the planet is in the disk's habitable zone, implying it is a worthwhile option for colonization.

Transcript

This is one of 27 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

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Discussion

"Faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted" could refer to either Fomalhaut b (former proposed exoplanet that turned out to be a dust cloud) or Tabby's Star (star with odd irregular dimming pattern likely due to a dust cloud, but was briefly thought by some to be an alien megastructure the speculation of which caused the media to lose their shit). Erika lovelace (talk) 19:53, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

Somebody should word it better but the idea of a black hole accretion disk having a habitable zone is pretty typical for Randall brand humor. 130.76.187.35 20:12, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

I think it's actually a reference to Interstellar. In that movie three planets are sort of in the habitable zone of a giant black hole's accretion disk. Whether that means they have to be in the accretion disk, or whether they can be outside it but still in the habitable zone of the disk's radiation, I'm not sure. -- Ken g6 (talk) 00:17, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

An alternative reading of #18 is that the planet may or may not be too hot for rocks to solidify at the surface. (Even if this turns out to be implausible, Randall does stretch the bounds of plausibility on occasion.) 87.75.45.216 08:36, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

An accretion disk is also found around a star. So the exoplanet may be in the zone where planets may actually form. (talking about the title text) 129.27.217.99 08:59, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

An accretion disk forms around my desk. Whether or not it counts as habitable is debatable, though. 82.13.184.33 09:15, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Yeah, the Earth is thought to have formed from the accretion disk of the Sun 4.5b years ago. It probably has nothing to do with black holes. Robisodd (talk) 12:12, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

This is my reading of it too: the planet being within the habitable zone of the accretion disk is (IMO) referencing a very young solar system, discovered at some time before the planets have swept their orbits clear. Therefore although "habitable", it'll be a few hundred million years before even what we hypothesize as the "Late Heavy Bombardment", concomitant with the very earliest traces of life on Earth. In other words, great news for future colonization as long as your hopes for the future are not contingent on there being anyone remotely human still around... 2A01:CB08:E6:7000:910F:2296:2C6D:46C4 10:27, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

My read of this is that the planet is habitable but perhaps it "doesn't like" life. Galeindfal (talk) 13:36, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Weird side note: isn't Anne McCaffrey's PERN technically a Habitable planet that passes trough an accretion disk? There's a whole subplot about doing some weird magic-science to stabilize the orbit and stop the inspiraling in the later books. 104.129.192.49 22:33, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

I'm a little unsure of this so could someone help me confirm my theory? There is a shape in xkcd: Escape Speed that looks quite similar to the "faint dust cloud that will cause several papers to be retracted" shape (in xkcd: Exoplanet System). I'm wondering if xkcd: Exoplanet System might be a map of the xkcd: Escape Speed world? RedDragon (talk) 14:53, 17 June 2025 (UTC)RedDragon

I assumed the "fist-sized rock" was something relatively close to the observatory, which is not calibrated properly so it seems to be at the star's distance. Barmar (talk) 16:09, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiKyfd6hA0 92.23.2.228 20:17, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Could the ‘fist-sized rock’ be a reference to Welcome To Night Vale, in which a character, named Sarah Sultan is a ‘fist-sized river rock’? Broseph (talk) 06:18, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

The intro seems to major a little too heavily on the habitability aspect. Only four of the items in the comic mention habitability - five if you count the 'Earth-like data artifact' - plus the title text. That's not even a third of the total items. Astronomers aren't only interested by worlds that might be habitable - they're excited by the vast array of interesting things out there. 82.13.184.33 08:31, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

"Wet Saturn" and "Hot Mars" may also be a reference to Pliny the Elder's Historia Naturalis, Book 2 Chapter 18. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D2%3Achapter%3D18

im sorry is this website using biased odds for random comics?? because i’ve got a comic in the last 200 published at least 20 times out of the last 25 i’ve rolled. and 2 of the others were the same non comic 92.40.197.124 17:11, 2 December 2025 (UTC)

Unfortunately, yes, and people have discovered that it's a wiki thing, not specifically anything to do how this site uses its Random button. Though it has been changed to include the set of non-comic page-explanations, as well as numbered/non-numbered comics, which is a fairly new (and deliberate) development. 82.132.237.203 17:45, 2 December 2025 (UTC)
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