Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-21T19:16:06.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The bio-habitable zone and atmospheric properties for planets of red dwarfs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2019

A. Wandel Open the ORCID record for A. Wandel [Opens in a new window]  and
J. Gale
A. Wandel*
Affiliation:
The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel
J. Gale
Affiliation:
The Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel
*
Author for correspondence: A. Wandel, E-mail: 1amri@mail.huji.ac.il
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Kepler data show that habitable small planets orbiting Red Dwarf stars (RDs) are abundant, and hence might be promising targets to look at for biomarkers and life. Planets orbiting within the habitable zone of RDs are close enough to be tidally locked. Some recent works have cast doubt on the ability of planets orbiting RDs to support life. In contrast, it is shown that temperatures suitable for liquid water and even for organic molecules may exist on tidally locked planets (TLPs) of RDs for a wide range of atmospheres. We chart the surface temperature distribution as a function of the irradiation, greenhouse factor and heat circulation. The habitability boundaries and their dependence on the atmospheric properties are derived. By extending our previous analyses of TLPs, we find that tidally locked as well as synchronous (not completely locked) planets of RDs and K-type stars may support life, for a wider range of orbital distance and atmospheric conditions than previously thought. In particular, it is argued that life clement environments may be possible on tidally locked and synchronously orbiting planets of RDs and K-type stars, with conditions supporting oxygenic photosynthesis, which on Earth was a key to complex life. Different climate projections and the biological significance of tidal locking on putative complex life are reviewed. We show that when the effect of continuous radiation is taken into account, the photo-synthetically active radiation available on TLPs, even of RDs, could produce a high-potential plant productivity, in analogy to mid-summer growth at high latitudes on Earth. Awaiting the findings of TESS and JWST, we discuss the implications of the above arguments to the detection of biomarkers such as liquid water and oxygen, as well as to the abundance of biotic planets and life.

Keywords

Bio-signatureshabitable zonephotosynthesisplanetsred dwarf starstidally locked planets
Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Astrobiology , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 126 - 135
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amthor, JS (1989) Respiration and Crop Productivity. New York: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batalha, NM, Rowe, JF, Bryson, ST, Barclay, T, Burke, CJ, Caldwell, DA, Christiansen, JL, Mullally, F, Thompson, SE, Brown, TM, Dupree, AK, Fabrycky, DC, Ford, EB, Fortney, JJ, Gilliland, RL, Isaacson, H, Latham, DW, Marcy, GW, Quinn, SN, Ragozzine, D, Shporer, A, Borucki, WJ, Ciardi, DR, Gautier TN, III, Haas, MR, Jenkins, JM, Koch, DG, Lissauer, JJ, Rapin, W, Basri, GS, Boss, AP, Buchhave, LA, Carter, JA, Charbonneau, D, Christensen-Dalsgaard, J, Clarke, BD, Cochran, WD, Demory, B-O, Desert, J-M, Devore, E, Doyle, LR, Esquerdo, GA, Everett, M, Fressin, F, Geary, JC, Girouard, FR, Gould, A, Hall, JR, Holman, MJ, Howard, AW, Howell, SB, Ibrahim, KA, Kinemuchi, K, Kjeldsen, H, Klaus, TC, Li, J, Lucas, PW, Meibom, S, Morris, RL, Prša, A, Quintana, E, Sanderfer, DT, Sasselov, D, Seader, SE, Smith, JC, Steffen, JH, Still, M, Stumpe, MC, Tarter, JC, Tenenbaum, P, Torres, G, Twicken, JD, Uddin, K, Van Cleve, J, Walkowicz, L and Welsh, WF (2013) Planetary candidates observed by Kepler. III. Analysis of the first 16 months of data. Astrophysical Journal Supplement 204, 24–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belanger, M, Allaman, I and Magistretti, PJ (2011) Brain energy metabolism: focus on Astrocyte-Neuron Metabolic Cooperation. Cell Metabolism 14, 724–738.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Checlair, J, Menou, K and Abbot, DS (2017) No snowball on habitable tidally locked planets. Astrophysical Journal 845, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Del Genio, A, Way, MJ, Amundsen, DS, Aleinov, I, Kelley, M, Kiang, NY and Clune, TL (2019) Habitable climate scenarios for Proxima Centauri b with a dynamic ocean. Astrobiology 19, 1. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2017.1760.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dobos, V, Heller, R and Turner, EL (2017) The effect of multiple heat sources on exomoon habitable zones. Astron & Astrophys 601, 91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dressing, CD and Charbonneau, D (2015) The occurrence of potentially habitable planets orbiting M dwarfs estimated from the full Kepler dataset and an empirical measurement of the detection sensitivity. Astrophysical Journal 807, 45–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Froget, F (2013) On the probability of habitable planets. International Journal of Astrobiology 12, 177–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gale, J and Wandel, A (2017) The potential of planets orbiting red dwarf stars to support oxygenic photosynthesis and complex life. International Journal of Astrobiology 16, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hadhazy, A (2010) Fact or fiction: The days (and nights) are getting longer. Scientific American. Available at http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-rotation-summer-solstice.Google Scholar
Heller, R, Leconte, J and Barnes, R (2011) Tidal obliquity evolution of potentially habitable planets. Astron & Astrophys. 528, A27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heng, K and Kopparla, P (2012) On the stability of Super-Earth atmospheres. Astrophysical Journal 754, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, TJ, Jao, W-C, Subasavage, JP, Beaulieu, TD, Ianna, PA, Costa, E and Méndez, RA (2006) The Solar Neighborhood. XVII. Parallax Results from the CTIOPI 0.9 m Program: 20 New Members of the RECONS 10 Parsec Sample. The Astronomical Journal 132, 2360–2371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Imeri, L and Opp, MR (2009) How (and why) the immune system makes us sleep. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 199–2210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnston, CS, Jones, RG and Hunt, RD (1977) A seasonal carbon budget for a laminarian population in a Scottish sea-loch. Helgolander wis. Meeresunters 30, 527–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, EG and Lineweaver, CH (2010) To what extent does terrestrial life “Follow the Water”? Astrobiology 10, 349–361.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joshi, MM, Haberle, RM and Reynolds, RT (1997) Simulations of the atmospheres of synchronously rotating terrestrial planets orbiting M dwarfs: conditions for atmospheric collapse and the implications for habitability. Icarus 129, 450–465.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kasting, JF, Whitmire, DP and Reynolds, RT (1993) Habitable zones around main sequence stars. Icarus 101, 108–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, NY, Siefert, J, Govindjee, , and Blankenship, RE (2007 a) Spectral signatures of photosynthesis 1. Review of earth organisms. Astrobiology 7, 251–277.Google Scholar
King, NY, Segura, A, Tinetti, G, Govindjee, , Blankenship, RE, Cohen, M, Siefert, J, Crisp, D and Meadows, VS (2007 b) Spectral signatures of photosynthesis II. Coevolution with other stars and the atmosphere on Extrasolar worlds. Astrobiology 7, 252–274.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kite, ES, Gaidos, E and Manga, M (2011) Climate instability on tidally locked explanets. Astrophysical Journal 743, 41–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kopparapu, RK, Wolf, ET, Haqq-Misra, J, Jun, Y, Kasting, J, Mahadevan, S and Terrien, R (2016) The inner edge of the habitable zone for synchronously rotating planets around low-mass stars using general circulation models. Astrophysical Journal 819, 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krueger, JM, Rector, DM, Roy, S, Van Dongen, HPA, Belenky, G and Panksepp, J (2008) Sleep as a fundamental property of neuronal assemblies. Nature Reviews Neuroscience 12, 910–919.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambers, H, Chapin, FS III and Pons, TL (2008) Plant Physiological Ecology, 2nd Edn.Berlin, Germany: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larkum, AWD, Ritchie, RJ and Raven, JA (2018) Living of the sun: chlorophylls, bacteriochlorophylls and rhodopsins. Photosynthetica 56, 11–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leconte, J, Wu, H, Menou, K and Murray, N (2015) Asynchronous rotation of Earth-mass planets in the habitable zone of lower-mass stars. Science 347, 632L.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lecont, J, Forget, F, Charnay, B, Wordsworth, R and Pottier, A (2013) 3-D climate modeling of close-in land planets: circulation patterns, climate moist bistability, and habitability. Astronomy & Astrophysics 554, 1–17.Google Scholar
Lingam, M and Loeb, A (2017) Reduced diversity of life around Proxima Centauri and TRAPPIST-1. Astrophysical Journal 846, 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons, TW, Reinhard, CT and Planavsky, NJ (2014) The rise of oxygen in Earth's early ocean and atmosphere. Nature 506, 306–315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Makhametev, LM (1987) Unihemispheric slow-wave sleep in the American dolphin, Inia geoffrensis. Neuroscience Letters 79, 128–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nurnberg, DJ, Morton, J, Santabarbara, S, Telfer, A, Joliot, P and Antonaru, LA (2018) Photochemistry beyond the red limit in chlorophyll-f containing photosystems. Science 360, 1210–1213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Owen, JE and Mohanty, S (2016) Habitability of terrestrial-mass planets in the HZ of M dwarfs, I. H/He-dominated atmospheres. MNRAS 459, 4088.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierrehumbert, R (2011) A palette of climates for Gliese 581 g. Astrophysical Journal 726, 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Planavsky, NJ, Reinhard, CT, Wang, X, Thomson, D, McGoldrick, P and Robert, H (2014) Low Mid-Proterozoic atmospheric oxygen levels and the delayed rise of animals. Science 346, 635–638.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ricker, GR, Winn, JN, Vanderspek, R, Latham, DW, Bakos, GÁ, Bean, JL, Berta-Thompson, ZK, Brown, TM, Buchhave, L, Butler, NR, Butler, RP, Chaplin, WJ, Charbonneau, D, Christensen-Dalsgaard, J, Clampin, M, Deming, D, Doty, J, De Lee, N, Dressing, C, Dunham, EW, Endl, M, Fressin, F, Ge, J, Henning, T, Holman, MJ, Howard, AW, Ida, S, Jenkins, J, Jernigan, G, Johnson, JA, Kaltenegger, L, Kawai, N, Kjeldsen, H, Laughlin, G, Levine, AM, Lin, D, Lissauer, JJ, MacQueen, P, Marcy, G, McCullough, PR, Morton, TD, Narita, N, Paegert, M, Palle, E, Pepe, F, Pepper, J, Quirrenbach, A, Rinehart, SA, Sasselov, D, Sato, B, Seager, S, Sozzetti, A, Stassun, KG, Sullivan, P, Szentgyorgyi, A, Torres, G, Udry, S and Villasenor, J (2014) Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Proceedings of the SPIE 9143, 914320.Google Scholar
Ritchie, RJ, Larkum, AWD and Ribas, I (2018) Could photosynthesis function on Proxima Centauri b? International Journal of Astrobiology 17, 147–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scalo, J, Kaltenegger, L, Segura, AG, Fridlund, M, Ribas, I, Kulikov, YN, Grenfell, JL, Rauer, H, Odert, P, Leitzinger, M, Selsis, F, Khodachenko, ML, Eiroa, C, Kasting, J and Lammer, H (2007) M stars as targets for terrestrial exoplanet searches and biosignature detection. Astrobiology 7, 85–166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seager, S (2014) The future of spectroscopic life detection on exoplanets. PNAS 111, 12634–12640.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Seager, S and Deming, D (2010) Exoplanet Atmospheres. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics 48, 631–672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selsis, F, Wordsworth, RD and Forget, F (2011) Thermal phase curves of nontransiting terrestrial exoplanets. I. Characterizing atmospheres. Astronomy and Astrophysics 532, A1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaw, PJ (2000) Correlates of sleep and waking in Drosophila melanogaster. Science 287, 1834–1837.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sonett, CP, Kvale, EP, Zakharian, A, Chan, MA and Dernko, TM (1996) Late proterozoic and paleozoic tides, retreat of the moon and rotation of the earth. Science 273, 100–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, DS (2018 a) Niche amplitude, tidal locking and Fermi's Paradox. International Journal of Astrobiology 18, 377–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, DS (2018 b) Evolutionary Exobiology II: investigating biological potential of synchronously-rotating worlds. International Journal of Astrobiology 18, 362–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevenson, DS and Large, S (2017) Evolutionary Exobiology: towards the qualitative assessment of biological potential on exoplanets. International Journal of Astrobiology 18, 204–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stickgold, R and Walker, MP (2013) Sleep-dependent memory triage: evolving generalization through selective processing. Nature Neuroscience 16, 139–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Storey, KB and Storey, JM (1990) Metabolic rate depression and biochemical adaptation in anaerobiosis, hibernation and estivation. The Quarterly Review of Biology 65, 145–174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tarter, J, Backus, PR, Mancinelli, RL, Aurnou, JM, Backman, DE, Basri, GS, Boss, AP, Clarke, A, Deming, D, Doyle, LR, Feigelson, ED, Freund, F, Grinspoon, DH, Haberle, RM, Hauck SA, II, Heath, MJ, Henry, TJ, Hollingsworth, JL, Joshi, MM, Kilston, S, Liu, MC, Meikle, E, Reid, IN, Rothschild, LJ, Scalo, J, Segura, A, Tang, CM, Tiedje, JM, Turnbull, MC, Walkowicz, LM, Weber, AL and Young, RE (2007) A reappraisal of the habitability of planets around M dwarf stars. Astrobiology 7, 30–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tian, F (2009) Thermal escape from Super Earth atmospheres in the habitable zones of M stars. Astrophysical Journal 703, 905–909.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tilley, MA, Segura, A, Meadows, V, Hawley, S and Davenport, J (2019) Modeling repeated M dwarf flaring at an Earth-like planet in the habitable zone: atmospheric effects for an unmagnetized planet. Astrobiology 19, 1. https://doi.org/10.1089/ast.2017.1794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tsiaras, A, Waldmann, IP, Tinetti, G, Tennyson, J and Yurchenko, SN (2019) Water vapour in the atmosphere of the habitable-zone eight-Earth-mass planet K2-18 b. Nature Astronomy, 1–6. arXiv:1909.05218.Google Scholar
Turbet, M, Leconte, J, Selsis, F, Bolmont, E, Forget, F, Ribas, I, Raymond, SN and Anglada-Escudé, G (2016) The habitability of Proxima Centauri b II. Possible climates and observability. Astronomy and Astrophysics 596, 112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wandel, A (2015) On the Abundance of extraterrestrial life after the Kepler mission. International Journal of Astrobiology 14, 511–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wandel, A (2017) How far are extraterrestrial life and intelligence after Kepler? Acta Astronautica 137, 498–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wandel, A (2018) On the bio-habitability of M-dwarf planets. Astrophysical Journal 858, 1–13.Google Scholar
Wandel, A and Tal-Or, L (2019) On the habitability of Teegarden's Star planets. Astrophysical Journal Letters 800, 1–5, arxiv: 1906.07704.Google Scholar
Winters, JG, Henry, TJ, Lurie, JC, Hambly, NC, Jao, W-C, Bartlett, JL, Boyd, MR, Dieterich, SB, Finch, CT, Hosey, AD, Ianna, PA, Riedel, AR, Slatten, KJ and Subasavage, JP (2015) The Solar Neighborhood. XXXV; Distances to 1404 m Dwarf Systems Within 25 pc in the Southern SkyShow affiliations. The Astronomical Journal 149, 5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolf, ET, Shields, AL, Kopparapu, RK, Haqq-Misra, J and Toon, O (2017) Assessing the habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 system using a 3D climate model. Astrophysical Journal 837, 1–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolstencroft, RD and Raven, JA (2002) Photosynthesis: likelihood of occurrence and possibility of detection on Earth-like planets. Icarus 157, 535–548.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wordsworth, R (2015) Atmospheric heat redistribution and collapse on tidally locked rocky planets. Astrophysical Journal 806, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, Y, Yonggang, L, Yongsun, H and Abbot, DS (2014) Water trapping on tidally locked terrestrial planets requires special conditions. Astrophysical Journal Letters 796, 1–6.Google Scholar
Zhang, Y, Xiao, X, Wu, X, Zhou, S, Zhang, G, Qin, Y and Dong, J (2017) A global moderate resolution dataset of gross primary production of vegetation for 2000-2016. Scientific Data 4, Article number 170165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed