Planetary surveys conducted upon the system’s discovery in the heyday of the Galactic Republic and an in-depth study of soil core samples by the University of Terrestrial Sciences on Alderaan have revealed that Magatesso III was originally a world almost completely enveloped in a freshwater ocean except for the glacial poles, but over several billion years, its orbit has gradually lengthened. Initially sited in the middle of the system’s "Goldilocks Zone", the world has slowly drifted to the outskirts of this habitable zone. In the process, the freshwater seas that used to cover the planet have frozen into sheets of ice tens of kilometres deep. The constant low-level seismic activity associated with this orbit change has thrown up mountains and huge active lava fields that cover a significant proportion of the planet, especially in the northern hemisphere. In the five millennia since initial surveys were taken, the planet’s orbit has increased in length by almost two thousand kilometres. Estimates are that the planet may leave the system entirely within the next three billion years.

At present, daily temperatures average around negative twenty-five standard degrees, and the days are about twenty-seven standard hours. The air is bitingly cold, and anyone outside for more than 5 minutes without suitable thermal protection will begin to suffer negative effects from the chill. The smell of rotten eggs is also pervasive, due to the release of sulphur dioxide from the huge volcanic fields. Wildlife is scarce and comprises mostly the descendants of those few cold-weather creatures such as wampa and tauntaun that were found on the planet’s original small icecaps but have since spread all over the globe.

Magatesso III’s sentient population is mainly gathered in cities and towns built into the permanent ice and in deep crevasses in the mountains. The pockets of civilization are cited to take advantage of natural windbreaks, as wind speeds of one hundred kilometres an hour are quite normal at certain times of the day. The world’s main industry is ice mining to supply the water needs of the citizens of Magatesso I. Huge freighters ply the local water-route daily, hauling megatons of ice off-world every week. The local ports are havens for pilots who want to make a quick credit for short-term haulage jobs, as well as those who are keen to profit from bringing small luxuries to the otherwise cut-off miners and their families. Law enforcement can be somewhat lax, giving opportunities to petty criminals to ply their trade relatively unmolested.