ARCHON · SHELL/CODEX

SNOWBALL

NOTE

> STATUS reference note.

A snowball system has an innermost planet under a thick crust of ice, although it orbits too close to its star for ice to have condensed there. The star's heat works on the crust: on a planet with enough gravity to hold its vapour, the ice melts into water; on a lighter one it sublimates into a trail. Under the crust the planet is settled like any other.