Habitability Archives

July 25, 2024July 25, 2024 by Matt Williams

Planetary Habitability Depends on its Star’s Magnetic Field

Earth's magnetosphere is the region defined by our planet's magnetic field. Image Credit: NASA

The extrasolar planet census recently passed a major milestone, with 5500 confirmed candidates in 4,243 solar systems. With so many exoplanets available for study, astronomers have learned a great deal about the types of planets that exist in our galaxy and have been rethinking several preconceived notions. These include the notion of “habitability” and whether Earth is the standard by which this should be measured – i.e., could there be “super habitable” exoplanets out there? – and the very concept of the circumsolar habitable zone (CHZ).

Traditionally, astronomers have defined habitable zones based on the type of star and the orbital distance where a planet would be warm enough to maintain liquid water on its surface. But in recent years, other factors have been considered, including the presence of planetary magnetic fields and whether they get enough ultraviolet light. In a recent study, a team from Rice University extended the definition of a CHZ to include a star’s magnetic field. Their findings could have significant implications in the search for life on other planets (aka. astrobiology).

July 23, 2024July 23, 2024 by Matt Williams

The Ultraviolet Habitable Zone Sets a Time Limit on the Formation of Life

Artist's impression of the range of habitable zones for different types of stars. Credit: NASA/Kepler Mission/Dana Berry

The field of extrasolar planet studies has grown exponentially in the past twenty years. Thanks to missions like Kepler, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and other dedicated observatories, astronomers have confirmed 5,690 exoplanets in 4,243 star systems. With so many planets and systems available for study, scientists have been forced to reconsider many previously-held notions about planet formation and evolution and what conditions are necessary for life. In the latter case, scientists have been rethinking the concept of the Circumsolar Habitable Zone (CHZ).

By definition, a CHZ is the region around a star where an orbiting planet would be warm enough to maintain liquid water on its surface. As stars evolve with time, their radiance and heat will increase or decrease depending on their mass, altering the boundaries of the CHZ. In a recent study, a team of astronomers from the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) considered how the evolution of stars affects their ultraviolet emissions. Since UV light seems important for the emergence of life as we know it, they considered how the evolution of a star’s Ultraviolet Habitable Zone (UHZ) and its CHZ could be intertwined.

May 8, 2024May 8, 2024 by Evan Gough

What Deadly Venus Can Tell Us About Life on Other Worlds

Earth and Venus. Why are they so different and what do the differences tell us about rocky exoplanet habitability? Image Credit: NASA

Even though Venus and Earth are so-called sister planets, they’re as different as heaven and hell. Earth is a natural paradise where life has persevered under its azure skies despite multiple mass extinctions. On the other hand, Venus is a blistering planet with clouds of sulphuric acid and atmospheric pressure strong enough to squash a human being.

But the sister thing won’t go away because both worlds are about the same mass and radius and are rocky planets next to one another in the inner Solar System. Why are they so different? What do the differences tell us about our search for life?

March 19, 2024March 19, 2024 by Evan Gough

Earth’s Long-Term Habitability Relies on Chemical Cycles. How Can We Better Understand Them?

Biogeochemical cycles move matter around Earth between the atmosphere, the oceans, the lithosphere, and living things. Image Credit: By Alexander Davronov - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106124364

We, and all other complex life, require stability to evolve. Planetary conditions needed to be benign and long-lived for creatures like us and our multicellular brethren to appear and to persist. On Earth, chemical cycling provides much of the needed stability.

Chemical cycling between the land, atmosphere, lifeforms, and oceans is enormously complex and difficult to study. Typically, researchers try to isolate one cycle and study it. However, new research is examining Earth’s chemical cycling more holistically to try to understand how the planet has stayed in the ‘sweet spot’ for so long.

March 5, 2024March 5, 2024 by Evan Gough

The LIFE Telescope Passed its First Test: It Detected Biosignatures on Earth.

LIFE will have five separate space telescopes that fly in formation and work together to detect biosignatures in exoplanet atmospheres. Image Credit: LIFE, ETH Zurich

We know that there are thousands of exoplanets out there, with many millions more waiting to be discovered. But the vast majority of exoplanets are simply uninhabitable. For the few that may be habitable, we can only determine if they are by examining their atmospheres. LIFE, the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets, can help.

February 13, 2024February 13, 2024 by Evan Gough

Dying Stars Could Have Completely New Habitable Zones

As stars like our Sun age, their habitable zones shift, and they can warm planets that were once frozen. Image Credit: ESO/L. Calçada

Aging stars that become red giants increase their luminosity and can wreak havoc on planets that were once in the star’s habitable zones. When the Sun becomes a red giant and expands, its habitable zone will move further outward, meaning Earth will likely lose its atmosphere, its water, and its life. But for planets further out, their time in the habitable zone will just begin.

Is there enough time for life to arise on these newly habitable planets?

January 29, 2024January 23, 2024 by Paul M. Sutter

Is the Habitable Zone Really Habitable?

Solar flares pose a major hazard to electronics and infrastructure in Low Earth Orbit, but they may have played a role in kick-starting life on Earth. Credit: NASA/SDO/J. Major

The water that life knows and needs, the water that makes a world habitable, the water that acts as the universal solvent for all the myriad and fantastically complicated chemical reactions that make us different than the dirt and rocks, can only come in one form: liquid.

January 27, 2024January 23, 2024 by Paul M. Sutter

The Galactic Habitable Zone

Artist depiction of the Milky Way galaxy. Credit: Andrew Z. Colvin

Our planet sits in the Habitable Zone of our Sun, the special place where water can be liquid on the surface of a world. But that’s not the only thing special about us: we also sit in the Galactic Habitable Zone, the region within the Milky Way where the rate of star formation is just right.

January 4, 2024January 4, 2024 by Nancy Atkinson

Astronomers Test an Exoplanet Instrument on Jupiter

NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of Jupiter during the mission’s 40th close pass by the giant planet on Feb. 25, 2022. The large, dark shadow on the left side of the image was cast by Jupiter’s moon Ganymede. Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS Image processing by Thomas Thomopoulos

The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has a high-resolution spectrograph called ESPRESSO, designed specifically to detecting and characterize exoplanets. Astronomers recently ran a test with the instrument, studying the atmosphere and winds of Jupiter. They used a technique called Doppler velocimetry to measure the reflection of light from the Sun in the planet’s clouds, allowing for instantaneous measurement of the clouds’ wind speeds. The technique has also been used on Venus and will guide the future study of exoplanets.

December 15, 2023December 16, 2023 by Evan Gough

17 Known Exoplanets Could Have Oceans of Liquid Water

Astrobiologists believe that the Solar System's ice worlds are some of the most interesting places to search for life. These are moons or dwarf planets with thick ice shells surrounding oceans of liquid water - the perfect habitats for life. A new NASA study has found 17 exoplanets that have the right size, density and distance from their stars, and are probably similar to Europa or Enceladus and might even have geysers blasting water into space. Image Credit: NASA

The search for life is tied to the search for liquid water. That’s why astronomers are so keen on detecting rocky, Earth-like exoplanets in their stars’ habitable zones. In a habitable zone, a planet receives enough energy from its star to maintain liquid water on its surface, given the right atmospheric conditions.

But in our Solar System, we’ve found worlds with liquid water that are way beyond the habitable zone. Can we do the same in other solar systems?