Habitable Zone Explorer

The "Goldilocks zone" around a star is not a fixed distance — it depends entirely on how hot and luminous the star is. This simulation lets you switch between five star types, from dim red M dwarfs to blazing blue-white A stars, and watch the habitable zone band expand or contract accordingly. Drag a probe planet through the system with the distance slider and see its surface freeze, pool into a liquid ocean, or boil into vapor as its equilibrium temperature crosses the thresholds that define where liquid water — and by extension, life as we know it — could exist.