A team at the 91±¬ΑΟ and the University of Bern has computationally simulated more than 200,000 hypothetical Earth-like worlds all in orbit of stars like our sun. As they report in a paper accepted to the Planetary Science Journal and submitted Dec. 6 to the preprint site arXiv, on these simulated exoplanets, one common feature of present-day Earth was often lacking: partial ice coverage. About 90% of these potentially habitable hypothetical worlds lacked partial surface ice like polar caps.
91±¬ΑΟ astrobiologist Rory Barnes and co-authors have created software that simulates multiple aspects of planetary evolution across billions of years, with an eye toward finding and studying potentially habitable worlds.
91±¬ΑΟ astronomy professor Rory Barnes shows off the astronomy department’s Mobile Planetarium to colleagues at AbSciCon2019, the national conference on astrobiology in Bellevue. He takes it to schools with a presentation on astrobiology for K12 students.
A roundup of 91±¬ΑΟ talents and presentations in AbSciCon2019, the national conference on astrobiology — the search for life in the universe — to be held in Bellevue, June 24-28.
Aspects of an otherwise Earthlike planetβs tilt and orbital dynamics can severely affect its potential habitability β even triggering abrupt βsnowball statesβ where oceans freeze and surface life is impossible, according to new research from 91±¬ΑΟ astronomers.
Planets orbiting “short-period” binary stars, or stars locked in close orbital embrace, can be ejected off into space as a consequence of their host stars’ evolution, according to new research from the 91±¬ΑΟ.
The lead investigator of the research team that discovered Proxima Centauri b, the closest exoplanet, will join 91±¬ΑΟ astrobiologists May 3 to discuss the planet’s potential for life and even the possibility of sending spacecraft to the world.
The world’s attention is now on Proxima Centauri b, a possibly Earth-like planet about 4.22 light-years away. It’s in its star’s habitable zone — but could it in fact be habitable? If so, the planet evolved very different than Earth, say researchers at the 91±¬ΑΟ-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory.
New research from the 91±¬ΑΟ-based Virtual Planetary Laboratory will help astronomers better identify β and thus rule out β “false positives” in the search for life beyond Earth.
We know the Earth is habitable because β well, here we are. But would it look like a good candidate for life from hundreds of light-years away?
Astronomers with the 91±¬ΑΟ’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory have created the “habitility index for transiting planets” to rank exoplanets to help prioritize which warrant close inspection in the search for life beyond Earth.
Earth-like planets orbiting close to small stars probably have magnetic fields that protect them from stellar radiation and help maintain surface conditions that could be conducive to life, according to research by 91±¬ΑΟ astronomers.
New research by 91±¬ΑΟ astronomer Rory Barnes and co-authors describes possible planetary systems where a gravitational nudge from one planet with just the right orbital configuration and tilt could have a mild to devastating effect on the orbit and climate of another, possibly habitable world.
Two phenomena known to inhibit the potential habitability of planets β tidal forces and vigorous stellar activity β might instead help chances for life on certain planets orbiting low-mass stars, 91±¬ΑΟ astronomers have found.
Planets orbiting close to low-mass stars are prime targets in the search for life. But new research led by an astronomy graduate student at the 91±¬ΑΟ indicates some such planets may have long since lost their chance at hosting life because of intense heat during their formative years.
Having a companion in old age is good for people β and, it turns out, might extend the chance for life on certain Earth-sized planets in the cosmos as well.
A fluctuating tilt in a planet’s orbit does not preclude the possibility of life, according to new research by astronomers at the 91±¬ΑΟ, Utah’s Weber State University and NASA. In fact, sometimes it helps.