Most gas giants, even those which are classified as "life-bearing", are not particularly rare - about one system in ten seems to have a life-bearing one, with either "water-based life" or "ammonia-based life". They're so common that Universal Cartographics do not pay any premium for them at all, either life-bearing or the lifeless Class I or III gas giants. But there is a special subvariety of gas giant that is particularly rare, and interesting: they glow green. Bright green. Radioactive, fluorescent green, bright enough to be seen from space. They are the Glowing Green Giants (GGGs).
One can speculate about the cause. As this fluorescent green colouration was initially observed only on life-bearing worlds, the presence of abundant life was thought to be a causal factor. But since the vast majority of life-bearing worlds are not fluorescent green in colour, it could not have been merely the presence of microscopic airborne lifeforms that was the causal factor. Following those initial discoveries, additional GGGs that were nominally lifeless were thought to have put paid to the biogenetic theory of the origin of the green glow. Unfortunately, the numbers of such worlds that have been fully documented is still staggeringly low: only seven of them had been reported on publicly-available sources hen this thread was created, plus one whose location is unfortunately lost to us. Further examples will be required for any statistically significant study as to the collective origins of this peculiar phenomenon.
Recent modifications to the Universal Cartographics planetary classification index imply that it is indeed airborne lifeforms that are responsible for the vivid coloration; GGGs all have an additional paragraph in their descriptions, stating that "this particular gas giant" has certain airborne lifeforms. And with the advent of the Codex, GGGs are now recognized as a separate - and extremely rare - planet variety.
Up to now, information regarding GGGs is fairly decentralized. On this forum, there's usually a thread posted when someone makes a discovery of one - and people post there and discuss them, but the thread then sinks down into oblivion until the next one is found. This information has not, until now, been collated all in one place; this is the main purpose for my creating this thread. The examples of known GGGs are outlined below. If any Commander is aware of any GGG that is not on this list, please feel free to post links and details of such findings in this thread. Thanks to the two discoverers who have already done so, for GGG 7 and GGG 8.
My primary motive in creating this thread is to prompt any CMDRs who may have found such a planet, to report it. Many of the current finds are on or near the Colonia Road; there must be dozens more of them out there in the bulk of the galaxy. After a flurry of discoveries in 2016, we hadn't spotted reports of any new ones in over a year, though it has been good to see that this has changed in the time since I first posted this thread; the advent of the Codex with it's formal canonization of GGGs as a separate planet class has made them both a desirable destination and easy to track any new discoveries in each Region. I will endeavour to keep this front post updated if and when new reports come in. Likewise, any errors or additional notes I should make, please feel free to comment and add. I am attempting to number them in order of discovery; this should help keep the list fairly easy to maintain.
As of January 2020/3306, I am now keeping the List current via a Google Docs spreadsheet, rather than continually updating this thread (which is becoming way too TLDR). The spreadsheet can be found here:
The following list is kept primarily as archival material. Enjoy, and May The Fluorescence Be With You.
GGG 1
System: Blua Hypa HT-F D12-1226
Orbiting star type: F0 VB
Planet ID: 12
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 5.4 E-ms
Temperature: 158 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3
Co-ordinates: -7010.28 / -184.62 / 12817.62
Distance from Sol: 14610 LY
Discovered by: CMDR DUSTY MCDUSTERSON
Earliest report on Forum: 14th May 3302. Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: Blua Hypa Glowing Green Giant
This world was apparently first reported over on Reddit, where news of it made quite a splash. As far as I can tell, it was the first one for which a name was reported, so it gets pride of place as number 1 on my list. This thread in the xbox forum contains many good pics of the planet, viewed from the closest landable moon, as well as more examples of the "greenlight" colour wash on a ship in close orbit around the planet. At only 5 Earth-masses, it is the smallest of the reported GGGs so far.
GGG 2
System: Bleia Dryiae HF-W b35-1
Orbiting star type: M6 VA
Planet ID: 2
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 763 E-ms
Temperature: 177 K
Rings: no
Moons: 4
Co-ordinates: -836.40 / -112.56 / 4826.15
Distance from Sol: 4899 LY
Discovered by: CMDR ERYN LIAMSON
Earliest report on Forum: 26th July 3302. Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: Bleia Dryiae Glowing Green Giant
For those seeking the greenest of the green, this world is the easy winner. It's nearly solid green, especially when viewed from the poles, and the high axial tilt means a polar view gets plenty of sunlight.
GGG 3
System: Col 285 Sector VU-M c8-1
Orbiting star type: K6 VA
Planet ID: 4
Planet type: ammonia-based life
Mass: 230 E-ms
Temperature: 133 K
Rings: no
Moons: 3
Co-ordinates: 138.34375 / 264.71875 / -22.6875
Distance from Sol: 299 LY
Discovered by: CMDR HARTMETALL
Earliest report on Forum: 15th December 3302 Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: Radioactive Green
EDSM POI Label: Radioactive Green
The main difference between this world and the other three in the top four, is that this one is ammonia-based life. If it were not for this world, we might have assumed that GGGs can only be water-based life. So it is not a property of water-based life alone. This world is also the closest GGG to Sol, being just outside the Bubble, and the only one with a known Tourist Beacon.
GGG 4
System: Eol Prou KW-L c8-32
Orbiting star type: K8 VA
Planet ID: 4
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 389 E-ms
Temperature: 158 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3 (+ 1 moonlet)
Co-ordinates: -9581.68 / -932.21 / 19788.59
Distance from Sol: 22006 LY (very close to Colonia)
Discovered by: CMDR LJH888
Earliest report on Forum: 8th February 3303 Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: Land of Giant Crystals / Glow Bug Giant
This world's main attraction is its proximity to the Colonia region - only two jumps away from Jaques in a typical explorer ship. Unfortunately, the amount of green visible is rather low, compared to some of the other examples.
GGG 5
System: Unknown
Orbiting star type: Unknown
Planet ID: Unknown
Planet type: Unknown
Mass: Unknown
Temperature: Unknown
Rings: yes
Moons: Unknown
Co-ordinates: Unknown; "Somewhere near the Perseus Crags"
Distance from Sol: Unknown
Discovered by: CMDR KELLY ELDRIDGE
Earliest report on Forum: 16th October 3301. Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none known.
EDSM POI Label: none.
I call this world "Supermoose's Lost Planet". As you can see from the thread linked to above, Supermoose found it, and reported it on the forum... but had forgotten where it was. It was apparently the first ever GGG sighting. But no-one else has since found a GGG with this very distinctive candy-cane beige-and-green striped belt pattern. If you ever find it, please report it here!
GGG 6
System: Floasly TE-X d2-25
Orbiting star type: (A9 VAB), F3 VB
Planet ID: B 1
Planet type: Class III
Mass: 2053 E-ms
Temperature: 610 K
Rings: no
Moons: 1
Co-ordinates: -17387.15625 / -219.5 / 14558
Distance from Sol: 22678 LY
Discovered by: CMDR JIMBOT70
Earliest report on Forum: 27th October 3304. See post #7 in this very thread.
Tourist Beacon ID: none known.
EDSM POI Label: Floasly Glowing Green Giant
And this world is the first to be added thanks to this list. And it blows our theory about the worlds needing to be "life bearing" right out of the water, because this one's a lifeless Class III. At 37,000 Ls from the jump-in point, it's also the "most remote", the only one yet found orbiting a secondary star.
GGG 7
System: Eafoff LN-Q d6-0
Orbiting star type: neutron star
Planet ID: 1
Planet type: Class I
Mass: 114 E-ms
Temperature: 129 K
Rings: yes
Moons: none
Co-ordinates: 8729 / 1209 / -5599
Distance from Sol: 10440 LY
Discovered by: CMDR EllieVader
Earliest report on Forum: 16th August 3304, post #64 of page 5 of this very forum thread.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
A lot of "firsts" for GGG7: it's the first Class I GGG and thus the first to combine fluoro green with mauve and beige. It's also the first found orbiting a neutron star. At 129 K, it's the coldest GGG yet found. It's also got the smallest percentage of its surface coloured green of any of the GGGs, with just a few small green storms on the equator. But, it's still clearly "glowing" green, and thus clearly qualifying for the list. However, it's position 10,000 LYs out along the Perseus Arm, in the region known as the Perseus Transit, means that it is less likely to be visited than the ones that are closer to the Colonia Road, but it's certainly a worthwhile scenic detour for the galactic circumnavigators.
GGG 8
System: Dryooe Prou FF-Z d696
Orbiting star type: A8 VI
Planet ID: 5
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 4.35 E-ms
Temperature: 177 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3
Co-ordinates: -9378 / -861 / 20787
Distance from Sol: 22821 LY
Discovered by: CMDR AKUREI
Earliest report on Forum: 20th August 3304, post #67 of page 5 of this very forum thread.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
Here is another example of what has become the "commonest" kind of GGG: water-based life, with a deep brownish-red counterpoint colour to the bright green. And at 4.35 Earth-masses, we have a new record-holder for the smallest GGG found so far. As the discoverer noted, it is only 1000 LYs on the far side of Colonia, so for anyone doing the run from Colonia to either Beagle Point or Semotus Beacon, this is a natural scenic stop on the way and, for those with SRVs, the three landable moons could well offer some great views.
GGG 9
System: Eimbaith LW-W e1-290
Orbiting star type: Neutron star
Planet ID: 7
Planet type: water giant
Mass: 23.6 E-ms
Temperature: 158 K
Rings: yes
Moons: none
Co-ordinates: -1421 / 1618 / 30063
Distance from Sol: 30140 LY
Discovered by: CMDR TAEN
Earliest report on Forum: 30th October 3304 (this thread, post #80).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
A lot of "records" broken with this one: first GGG water giant (a relatively rare planet class in itself); first to be found orbiting a neutron star; furthest GGG yet found from Sol, being roughly enroute from Sag A to Beagle Point.
GGG 10
System: Boelts XH-C c29-854
Orbiting star type: K7 VA, M7 VA
Planet ID: AB 1
Planet type: Class II
Mass: 878.9 E-ms
Temperature: 226 K
Rings: no
Moons: 4, all landable
Co-ordinates: -6571 / -233 / 16823
Distance from Sol: 18062 LY
Discovered by: CMDR JOHNTASS
Earliest report on Forum: 13th February 3305 (this thread, post #139).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
This was an unexpected "hitch" with the new addition of GGGs tot he Codex: planets that might, technically, still be GGGs - but the amount of green-ness on the planet is very, very, very small - a couple of tiny green flecks on an otherwise perfectly ordinary beige-cream-white Class II giant. Whatever causes the green, it's safe to say this planet doesn't have much of it. Visit this world to check off the planet type for the Galctic Centre region in your Codex, but don't come all thie way here for the view, because there isn't one, despite four landable moons offering plenty of screenshot opportunities.
GGG 11
System: Gongae QW-L c24-0
Orbiting star type: G7 VAB
Planet ID: 2
Planet type: Class III
Mass: 2226 E-ms
Temperature: 640 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3+1, 3 landable
Co-ordinates: -383 / -101 / -8980
Distance from Sol: 8989 LY
Discovered by: CMDR GOBO SENBEI
Earliest report on Forum: 19th March 3305 (this thread, post #156).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
Here's a much more classic GGG, all green-and-purple, and much more photogenic with the rings and the moons. Location-wise, however, it's way out on the Rim, beyond the Crab Nebula, in the region now called "Kepler's Crest". Good jump range may be required to get there and back again.
GGG 12
System: Nyeajaae IT-M c9-19
Orbiting star type: K2 VAB
Planet ID: 3
Planet type: Class I
Mass: 362.6 E-ms
Temperature: 135 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 6, all landable
Co-ordinates: -3329 / -361 / 7049
Distance from Sol: 7804 LY
Discovered by: CMDR WH1TED3L1VERYVAN
Earliest report on Forum: 3rd April 3305 (this thread, post #159).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
Situated very close to the Colonia Road waystation world of Rohini, this GGG is a must-see for anyone travelling the Colonia route and wanting to see some of the local scenery. It's a green-and-brown combination which Cmdr Odengard has referred to as "mint'choco", but which the explorers of Antipodean extraction are more likely to call "choc-mint". There's plenty of green to be seen from a distance, and six landable moons (two of which are in co-orbiting pairs), so there should be plenty of scope for the astrophotographers amongst you for some great shots.
Yes, I know the pics for the last three planets aren't working properly. The new forum doesn't let you steal picture URLs like the old forum did; I'm needing to wait for people to send me actual link URLs.
Now, for some planets that aren't GGGs, but systems deserving an honourable mention. Thanks to Odengard for compiling and verifying the GMGs - keep an eye on their pink and green expedition thread for screenshots of those.
Notice: GMGs (glowing magenta giants) were "fixed" when version 3.3.0 went live, and they now appear as plain, vanilla Class V giants - which are interesting enough in themselves and not too common, but are not particularly noteworthy either in the Codex or for this thread. As a result, the former list of GMGs once kept here has now been deleted.
Blia Eup FG-Y g4 - not a classical "glowing green giant", but it is a class V giant with a striking - and apparently unique - dark green and bright yellow banding pattern.
One can speculate about the cause. As this fluorescent green colouration was initially observed only on life-bearing worlds, the presence of abundant life was thought to be a causal factor. But since the vast majority of life-bearing worlds are not fluorescent green in colour, it could not have been merely the presence of microscopic airborne lifeforms that was the causal factor. Following those initial discoveries, additional GGGs that were nominally lifeless were thought to have put paid to the biogenetic theory of the origin of the green glow. Unfortunately, the numbers of such worlds that have been fully documented is still staggeringly low: only seven of them had been reported on publicly-available sources hen this thread was created, plus one whose location is unfortunately lost to us. Further examples will be required for any statistically significant study as to the collective origins of this peculiar phenomenon.
Recent modifications to the Universal Cartographics planetary classification index imply that it is indeed airborne lifeforms that are responsible for the vivid coloration; GGGs all have an additional paragraph in their descriptions, stating that "this particular gas giant" has certain airborne lifeforms. And with the advent of the Codex, GGGs are now recognized as a separate - and extremely rare - planet variety.
Up to now, information regarding GGGs is fairly decentralized. On this forum, there's usually a thread posted when someone makes a discovery of one - and people post there and discuss them, but the thread then sinks down into oblivion until the next one is found. This information has not, until now, been collated all in one place; this is the main purpose for my creating this thread. The examples of known GGGs are outlined below. If any Commander is aware of any GGG that is not on this list, please feel free to post links and details of such findings in this thread. Thanks to the two discoverers who have already done so, for GGG 7 and GGG 8.
My primary motive in creating this thread is to prompt any CMDRs who may have found such a planet, to report it. Many of the current finds are on or near the Colonia Road; there must be dozens more of them out there in the bulk of the galaxy. After a flurry of discoveries in 2016, we hadn't spotted reports of any new ones in over a year, though it has been good to see that this has changed in the time since I first posted this thread; the advent of the Codex with it's formal canonization of GGGs as a separate planet class has made them both a desirable destination and easy to track any new discoveries in each Region. I will endeavour to keep this front post updated if and when new reports come in. Likewise, any errors or additional notes I should make, please feel free to comment and add. I am attempting to number them in order of discovery; this should help keep the list fairly easy to maintain.
As of January 2020/3306, I am now keeping the List current via a Google Docs spreadsheet, rather than continually updating this thread (which is becoming way too TLDR). The spreadsheet can be found here:
Glowing Green Giants - The Definitive List
docs.google.com
The following list is kept primarily as archival material. Enjoy, and May The Fluorescence Be With You.
GGG 1
System: Blua Hypa HT-F D12-1226
Orbiting star type: F0 VB
Planet ID: 12
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 5.4 E-ms
Temperature: 158 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3
Co-ordinates: -7010.28 / -184.62 / 12817.62
Distance from Sol: 14610 LY
Discovered by: CMDR DUSTY MCDUSTERSON
Earliest report on Forum: 14th May 3302. Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: Blua Hypa Glowing Green Giant
GGG 2
System: Bleia Dryiae HF-W b35-1
Orbiting star type: M6 VA
Planet ID: 2
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 763 E-ms
Temperature: 177 K
Rings: no
Moons: 4
Co-ordinates: -836.40 / -112.56 / 4826.15
Distance from Sol: 4899 LY
Discovered by: CMDR ERYN LIAMSON
Earliest report on Forum: 26th July 3302. Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: Bleia Dryiae Glowing Green Giant
GGG 3
System: Col 285 Sector VU-M c8-1
Orbiting star type: K6 VA
Planet ID: 4
Planet type: ammonia-based life
Mass: 230 E-ms
Temperature: 133 K
Rings: no
Moons: 3
Co-ordinates: 138.34375 / 264.71875 / -22.6875
Distance from Sol: 299 LY
Discovered by: CMDR HARTMETALL
Earliest report on Forum: 15th December 3302 Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: Radioactive Green
EDSM POI Label: Radioactive Green
GGG 4
System: Eol Prou KW-L c8-32
Orbiting star type: K8 VA
Planet ID: 4
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 389 E-ms
Temperature: 158 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3 (+ 1 moonlet)
Co-ordinates: -9581.68 / -932.21 / 19788.59
Distance from Sol: 22006 LY (very close to Colonia)
Discovered by: CMDR LJH888
Earliest report on Forum: 8th February 3303 Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: Land of Giant Crystals / Glow Bug Giant
GGG 5
System: Unknown
Orbiting star type: Unknown
Planet ID: Unknown
Planet type: Unknown
Mass: Unknown
Temperature: Unknown
Rings: yes
Moons: Unknown
Co-ordinates: Unknown; "Somewhere near the Perseus Crags"
Distance from Sol: Unknown
Discovered by: CMDR KELLY ELDRIDGE
Earliest report on Forum: 16th October 3301. Link.
Tourist Beacon ID: none known.
EDSM POI Label: none.
GGG 6
System: Floasly TE-X d2-25
Orbiting star type: (A9 VAB), F3 VB
Planet ID: B 1
Planet type: Class III
Mass: 2053 E-ms
Temperature: 610 K
Rings: no
Moons: 1
Co-ordinates: -17387.15625 / -219.5 / 14558
Distance from Sol: 22678 LY
Discovered by: CMDR JIMBOT70
Earliest report on Forum: 27th October 3304. See post #7 in this very thread.
Tourist Beacon ID: none known.
EDSM POI Label: Floasly Glowing Green Giant
GGG 7
System: Eafoff LN-Q d6-0
Orbiting star type: neutron star
Planet ID: 1
Planet type: Class I
Mass: 114 E-ms
Temperature: 129 K
Rings: yes
Moons: none
Co-ordinates: 8729 / 1209 / -5599
Distance from Sol: 10440 LY
Discovered by: CMDR EllieVader
Earliest report on Forum: 16th August 3304, post #64 of page 5 of this very forum thread.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
GGG 8
System: Dryooe Prou FF-Z d696
Orbiting star type: A8 VI
Planet ID: 5
Planet type: water-based life
Mass: 4.35 E-ms
Temperature: 177 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3
Co-ordinates: -9378 / -861 / 20787
Distance from Sol: 22821 LY
Discovered by: CMDR AKUREI
Earliest report on Forum: 20th August 3304, post #67 of page 5 of this very forum thread.
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
GGG 9
System: Eimbaith LW-W e1-290
Orbiting star type: Neutron star
Planet ID: 7
Planet type: water giant
Mass: 23.6 E-ms
Temperature: 158 K
Rings: yes
Moons: none
Co-ordinates: -1421 / 1618 / 30063
Distance from Sol: 30140 LY
Discovered by: CMDR TAEN
Earliest report on Forum: 30th October 3304 (this thread, post #80).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
GGG 10
System: Boelts XH-C c29-854
Orbiting star type: K7 VA, M7 VA
Planet ID: AB 1
Planet type: Class II
Mass: 878.9 E-ms
Temperature: 226 K
Rings: no
Moons: 4, all landable
Co-ordinates: -6571 / -233 / 16823
Distance from Sol: 18062 LY
Discovered by: CMDR JOHNTASS
Earliest report on Forum: 13th February 3305 (this thread, post #139).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FRbPgEoJ.jpg&hash=360bd2046dc12b4656c29febbd1dc11d
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fv%2Ft1.0-9%2F52948609_357417365093208_5254655224072634368_o.jpg%3F_nc_cat%3D111%26_nc_ht%3Dscontent-ort2-2.xx%26oh%3D2aba20c90f0e798f54b9a4f0bb7eefdf%26oe%3D5CDB2632&hash=89d55c612d540358f7b782c0eae7678b
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fv%2Ft1.0-9%2F52948609_357417365093208_5254655224072634368_o.jpg%3F_nc_cat%3D111%26_nc_ht%3Dscontent-ort2-2.xx%26oh%3D2aba20c90f0e798f54b9a4f0bb7eefdf%26oe%3D5CDB2632&hash=89d55c612d540358f7b782c0eae7678b
GGG 11
System: Gongae QW-L c24-0
Orbiting star type: G7 VAB
Planet ID: 2
Planet type: Class III
Mass: 2226 E-ms
Temperature: 640 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 3+1, 3 landable
Co-ordinates: -383 / -101 / -8980
Distance from Sol: 8989 LY
Discovered by: CMDR GOBO SENBEI
Earliest report on Forum: 19th March 3305 (this thread, post #156).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
GGG 12
System: Nyeajaae IT-M c9-19
Orbiting star type: K2 VAB
Planet ID: 3
Planet type: Class I
Mass: 362.6 E-ms
Temperature: 135 K
Rings: yes
Moons: 6, all landable
Co-ordinates: -3329 / -361 / 7049
Distance from Sol: 7804 LY
Discovered by: CMDR WH1TED3L1VERYVAN
Earliest report on Forum: 3rd April 3305 (this thread, post #159).
Tourist Beacon ID: none
EDSM POI Label: none
Yes, I know the pics for the last three planets aren't working properly. The new forum doesn't let you steal picture URLs like the old forum did; I'm needing to wait for people to send me actual link URLs.
Now, for some planets that aren't GGGs, but systems deserving an honourable mention. Thanks to Odengard for compiling and verifying the GMGs - keep an eye on their pink and green expedition thread for screenshots of those.
Notice: GMGs (glowing magenta giants) were "fixed" when version 3.3.0 went live, and they now appear as plain, vanilla Class V giants - which are interesting enough in themselves and not too common, but are not particularly noteworthy either in the Codex or for this thread. As a result, the former list of GMGs once kept here has now been deleted.
Blia Eup FG-Y g4 - not a classical "glowing green giant", but it is a class V giant with a striking - and apparently unique - dark green and bright yellow banding pattern.
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