The art of geography

Looking out from a Hollow Place

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

Part of a new series called “Absorption” which builds upon my previous series "Panpsychism" and "Invisible Structures."

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The encircling imagination of a chemical reaction on Kepler-186f v2

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

33rd in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

Kepler-186f is an Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Kepler-186. It is located about 580 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cygnus. It was the first planet with a radius similar to Earth's to be discovered in the habitable zone of another star.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

I have been using the same digital painting app to make art since 1999.

“The Last Gnamma”

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

Bit of a shift in approach. Not part of a series, yet.

The stranger on PSR J2322-2650b and the sovereignty of gravity

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

42nd in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

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PSR J2322−2650 b is a tidally locked exoplanet orbiting the millisecond pulsar PSR J2322−2650. PSR J2322−2650 b orbits approximately 1 million miles from its host star. The tidal effects from the host star are so intense that the planet has been stretched into the shape of a lemon. PSR J2322−2650 is a pulsar some 750 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Sculptor.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

End of the long night on Kepler 62e

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

41st in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

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Kepler-62e is a super-Earth exoplanet discovered orbiting within the habitable zone of Kepler-62, a 7 billion years old star located about 990 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Lyra.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

Let me tell you about GJ 887 d and how life came to an end there

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

40th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

If you like this, consider tipping via my Ko-Fi. https://ko-fi.com/artofgeography

The exoplanet GJ 887 d sits in the “habitable zone” of its star and is 10.7 light years away. Its mass is 6.1 Earths and it circles its star about once every 51 days. GJ 887 d is the second-nearest known exoplanet in the habitable zone after Proxima Centauri b.

What if we send an expedition to a nearby exoplanet and discover all life there is extinct? Or the expedition fares badly?

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

Gliese 667 Cc: a prison of our own making

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

39th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

Gliese 667 Cc is an exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of the red dwarf star Gliese 667 C, which is a member of the Gliese 667 triple-star system, approximately 23.6 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius. Gliese 667 Cc is a super-Earth with a year length of 28.155 Earth-days.

In the aftermath of an expedition to Gliese 667 Cc, many asked why we went.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

Project Orion’s grand tour makes unplanned stop at TWA 7 b

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

38th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

TWA 7 b orbits the young red dwarf star TWA 7, located just 34 light-years away in the constellation Antlia.

Last June 25, it was announced that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) made history by capturing the first direct image of a previously unknown exoplanet, TWA 7 b.

TWA 7 b is a gas giant with a mass approximately that of Saturn, and takes several hundred years to complete one orbit.

What if Project Orion’s nuclear powered space ship runs into problems and has to stop at the nearest planet with any useful resources?

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

Not a map of Kepler 438b’s Coriolis vortex

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

Not finished with this, but a good stopping point.

37th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

Kepler-438b is a confirmed near-Earth-sized exoplanet. It is likely rocky, and orbits on the inner edge of the habitable zone of a red dwarf, Kepler-438, about 460 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. The planet receives 1.4 times the solar flux of Earth. Kepler-438b orbits its parent star once every 35 days and 5 hours.

Everything perishable ricochets on the dark side of LHS 3844b

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

36th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

Replies have more info.

The super-Earth planet LHS 3844 b orbits the red dwarf LHS 3844, about 48.5 light-years away in the constellation Indus. It is thought to be tidally locked, meaning permanent day on one side and eternal night on the other.

What might it be like to be on this or similar planet? Near the divide between light and dark (called the terminator here on Earth), might it be similar to being in Antarctica?

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Do not dream of flowers on GJ 3998 d

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

Exciting to see Artemis II rocketing to the moon! It’s a long road from the moon to humans visiting exoplanets, and this is 35th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

GJ 3998 (also known as Gliese 3998) is a red dwarf star located 59.3 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. GJ 3998 d is a super-Earth exoplanet with a mass about six times that of Earth, orbiting in the optimistic habitable zone of its star. GJ 3998 d's year is 41.78 days.

Given the 200 billion red-dwarf stars in our galaxy, and how long-lived they are (trillions of years), the chance of life developing on at least one red-dwarf star’s exoplanets seems decent. Most exoplanets in these systems may be tidally locked--always facing their star.

Lost somewhere on TRAPPIST-1f with a ship made of regolith

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

34th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

TRAPPIST-1f is a rocky, Earth-sized exoplanet in the habitable zone around the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, 40.7 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Aquarius.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

In the labyrinth of GJ 1061 d: stars in their eyes amongst otherworldly stone mementos

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

32nd in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

GJ 1061 d is a potentially habitable exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of its red dwarf parent star. GJ 1061 d is a super-Earth exoplanet located 12 light-years from Earth, with a mass of 1.64 Earths, and it takes 13 days to complete one orbit of its star. GJ 1061 is located in the southern constellation of Horologium.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

A mass of matter prospecting life on Kepler-1126b

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

31st in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

At 3.7 Earth masses, Kepler-1126 b is a Super Earth located 2072 light years from us. Super Earths might be terrestrial worlds like Earth, or they could be ocean worlds or terrestrial worlds with an atmosphere.

Kepler-1126 may be a superhabitable world which is a hypothetical type of planet or moon that is better suited than Earth for the emergence and evolution of life.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.

When I ruled the exo-world TOI-715 b

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

30th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

For some, a motivation for space travel might be a grand vision of ruling an entire planet. We may not even recognize the ruler anymore--look at what happened to Alexander the Great after conquering ancient Persia.

TOI-715 b is a super-Earth exoplanet in the habitable zone of its parent M-type star, TOI-715. The planet is 1.55 times larger than Earth, and orbits in the habitable zone of its star. The star TOI-715 is a red dwarf located 140 light years from the Earth in the constellation Volans, very close to our southern celestial pole.

Velvet morning on Earth 2.0 (Kepler-452b)

© Copyright 2026 by Erik Goetze

29th in my “Exoplanet” series which explores facets of planets identified outside the solar system.

Kepler-452b is possibly a rocky planet with many volcanos. It orbits its star at nearly the same distance as Earth from the Sun, with a “year” of roughly 385 days, and has a radius of around 1.63 times that of Earth. The planet is about 1,800 light-years away from here. Its star is 1.5 billion years older than Sol. It is considered a potentially habitable world, and has had more time for life to develop.

I don’t use AI tools to make my art. And AI tools do not have permission to train on or assimilate my art.