The influence of atmospheric composition on the climates of present-day and early Earth has been studied extensively, but the role of ocean composition has received less attention. Sea ice coverage […]
habitability
Posted inHabitable Zones
Moderately High Obliquity Promotes Biospheric Oxygenation
Planetary obliquity is a first order control on planetary climate and seasonal contrast, which has a number of cascading consequences for life. How moderately high obliquity (obliquities greater than Earth’s […]
Posted inSpace Weather & Heliophysics
Constraints On The History of the Stellar Radiation Environment Of Planets Orbiting Low-mass Stars
We present a study of the relationship between galactic kinematics, flare rates, chromospheric magnetic activity, and rotation periods for a volume-complete, nearly all-sky sample of 219 single stars within 15 […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Relative Habitability Of Exoplanet Systems With Two Giant Planets
The architecture of a planetary system can influence the habitability of a planet via orbital effects, particularly in the areas of stability and eccentricity. Some of these effects are readily […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Evaluating The Evidence For Water World Populations Using Mixture Models
Water worlds have been hypothesized as an alternative to photo-evaporation in order to explain the gap in the radius distribution of Kepler exoplanets. We explore water worlds within the framework […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Spectroscopic Monitoring Of M dwarf Gl 514. A Super-Earth On An Eccentric Orbit Moving In And Out Of The Habitable Zone
We investigated the presence of planetary companions around the nearby (7.6 pc) and bright (V=9 mag) early-type M dwarf Gl 514, analysing 540 radial velocities collected over nearly 25 years […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Tidally Driven Tectonic Activity As A Parameter In Exoplanet Habitability
Aims. On Earth, plate tectonics play an integral role in driving the long-term carbon cycle; however, on tidally locked rocky exoplanets alternative tectonic mechanisms driven by tidal stress and tidal […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Weak Seasonality on Temperate Exoplanets Around Low-mass Stars
Planets with non-zero obliquity and/or orbital eccentricity experience seasonal variations of stellar irradiation at local latitudes. The extent of the atmospheric response can be crudely estimated by the ratio between […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Microbes And Minerals May Have Set Off Earth's Oxygenation
For the first 2 billion years of Earth’s history, there was barely any oxygen in the air. While some microbes were photosynthesizing by the latter part of this period, oxygen […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Ancient Oxygen Levels Provide Clues To The Timing Of Life And Death On Earth
Oxygen is critical for life, but what promoted the first rise in atmospheric oxygen on Earth and precisely when it happened have been challenging scientists for the last 70 years. […]