Terrestrial planets born beyond 1-3 AU have been theorized to avoid being engulfed during the red-giant phases of their host stars.
white dwarf
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
X-ray Emission of Nearby Low-mass and Sun-like Stars with Directly Imageable Habitable Zones
Stellar X-ray and UV radiation can significantly affect the survival, composition, and long-term evolution of the atmospheres of planets in or near their host star’s habitable zone (HZ).
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Interstellar, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
A Census of Sun’s Ancestors and their Contributions to the Solar System Chemical Composition
In this work we compute the rates and numbers of different types of stars and phenomena (SNe, novae, white dwarfs, merging neutron stars, black holes) that contributed to the chemical […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
Seven White Dwarfs With Circumstellar Gas Discs II: Tracing The Composition Of Exoplanetary Building Blocks
This second paper presents an in-depth analysis of the composition of the planetary material that has been accreted onto seven white dwarfs with circumstellar dust and gas emission discs with […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Novel Atmospheric Dynamics Shape Inner Edge of Habitable Zone Around White Dwarfs
White dwarfs offer a unique opportunity to search nearby stellar systems for signs of life, but the habitable zone around these stars is still poorly understood. Since white dwarfs are […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
The Giant Nature Of WD 1856 b Implies That Transiting Rocky Planets Are Rare Around White Dwarfs
White dwarfs (WDs) have roughly Earth-sized radii – a fact long recognized to facilitate the potential discovery of sub-Earth sized planets via transits, as well atmospheric characterization including biosignatures.
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report
The Influence Of Tidal Heating On The Habitability Of Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs
In recent years, there have been a growing number of observations indicating the presence of rocky material in short-period orbits around white dwarfs. In this Letter, we revisit the prospects […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
New Chondritic Bodies Identified In Eight Oxygen-bearing White Dwarfs
We present observations and analyses of eight white dwarf stars that have accreted rocky material from their surrounding planetary systems.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
A New Method for Finding Nearby White Dwarf Exoplanets and Detecting Biosignatures
We demonstrate that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can detect infrared (IR) excess from the blended light spectral energy distribution of spatially unresolved terrestrial exoplanets orbiting nearby white dwarfs.
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
The White Dwarf Opportunity: Robust Detections of Molecules in Earth-like Exoplanet Atmospheres with the James Webb Space Telescope
The near-term search for life beyond the solar system currently focuses on transiting planets orbiting small M dwarfs, and the challenges of detecting signs of life in their atmospheres. However, […]