Astronomical evidence
PDS 70 c is a young giant associated with a disk of material around its star. The saved catalog gives an orbital semimajor axis of 34.3 (+2.2/−1.8) astronomical units, while its period field is blank. The catalog’s radius and mass estimates have substantial uncertainties and depend on the interpretation of a young planet’s light. A missing period is not a zero-day orbit. [1] ALMA observations at a wavelength of 855 micrometres identified compact dust emission at the position of PDS 70 c, separated from the larger circumstellar disk. Benisty and colleagues interpreted that source as a circumplanetary disk. Hydrogen-line detections and infrared observations support an actively accreting planet. Material in such a disk provides a possible setting for satellite formation, without establishing that moons have already formed. [2] A later study recovered compact emission near the planet in observations spanning 2019–2023. Its measured location was consistent with the planet’s expected motion. Dust-mass estimates depend on grain properties and thermal assumptions; millimetre emission is not a visible-light view of a glowing ring. The painting uses those distinctions to show a disk in formation rather than a mature Saturn-like ring system. [3]
The illustrated viewpoint
Nonhumanoid / suspended ivory sensory corona. An invented protected observatory above the disk plane near PDS 70 c. ALMA detects compact dust emission associated with PDS 70 c; infrared and hydrogen-line observations support an accreting protoplanet. The dust disk’s visible color, spiral details and nearby observer are interpretive. No moon is established by the scene. The planet is a warm object inside a disk, not a black hole. The relative sizes of planet and disk are compressed for legibility.
ALMA detects compact dust emission associated with PDS 70 c; infrared and hydrogen-line observations support an accreting protoplanet. The dust disk’s visible color, spiral details and nearby observer are interpretive. No moon is established by the scene. The planet is a warm object inside a disk, not a black hole. The relative sizes of planet and disk are compressed for legibility. All beings, civilizations and technology are fictional. No motives, moral alignment or character history is asserted.
Catalog measurements & sources
Host: PDS 70. Snapshot: 25 September 2026. Errors, limits and source provenance are retained. Calculated values and model estimates are not direct measurements. Unknown is not zero; equilibrium temperature is not surface temperature.
| Quantity / unit | Value / reported errors | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Radius · Earth radii | 22.1938 (+4.3715 / -3.47478) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Mass · Earth masses | 2383.71 (+1493.79 / -1334.88) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Density · g/cm³ | 1.2 | Calculated Value |
| Orbital period · days | Unknown | Not supplied |
| Orbital semimajor axis · AU | 34.3 (+2.2 / -1.8) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Eccentricity | 0.037 (+0.041 / -0.025) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Inclination · degrees | 130.5 (+2.5 / -2.4) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Irradiation · Earth flux | 0.0003 (+0.0001 / -0.0001) | Calculated Value |
| Equilibrium temperature · K | 1054 (+60 / -48) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Stellar effective temperature · K | 4109 (+36 / -30) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Stellar radius · Solar | 1.26 (+0.15 / -0.15) | Keppler et al. 2018 |
| Stellar mass · Solar | 0.982 (+0.066 / -0.066) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Stellar luminosity · log Solar | -0.45593 (+0.09938 / -0.12909) | Keppler et al. 2018 |
| Stellar age · Gyr | 0.008 (+0.001 / -0.001) | Wang et al. 2021 |
| Stellar metallicity · dex | -0.11 (+0.01 / -0.01) | Swastik et al. 2021 |
| Distance · pc | 113.064 (+0.523 / -0.519) | TICv8 |