• Many planets in a universe a

handful could possibly support

life
• One celestial body determining
whether it supports life, slow
and inefficient
• look for certain pointers
• has the potential to support life
HABITABLE
 Habitability of Planets

•A comfortable distance
away from a star
•Around a star
•The Habitable Zone
 Stability of Stars
The stars closest to it are stable in terms of their luminosity.
Supporting Details:
• The Sun and other main sequence stars are fusing Hydrogen into Helium
in their cores. They need to be in balance.
• Gravity caused by the mass of the star is trying to compress the core.
• Thermal pressure from the fusion reactions are trying to expand the
core outwards. When gravity and thermal pressures balance each other
out, the star is said to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. This makes stars
stable for long periods of time.
• This stability lasts until the equilibrium is broken. This happens when
the star runs out of Hydrogen in its core and the thermal pressure is not
sufficient to overcome gravity.
• External effects such as stellar variability and orbital stability can affect
habitability, but internal planetary processes that sustain a clement
surface are essential to life; these processes are, however, difficult to
characterize remotely.
Mass of Planetary Bodies

It should not have a very low mass

A planet with low mass has weak gravitational
pulls, making them unsuitable for human
habitation.
Supporting Details:
• The bulk composition of a planet is inherited
from the constituents of the protoplanetary
disk in which the planet forms, as well as on the
planetary building blocks and the mechanisms
by which they accumulate to form a planet.
Mass of Planetary Bodies

• Typically, the more massive the

planet, the more massive the
atmosphere it can acquire and
maintain. This is important
because the mass of a planet’s
atmosphere will directly influence
its climate.
Mass of Planetary Bodies https://www.planetary.org/space-images/
the-atmospheres-of-the-solar-system
(Picture of the Planet’s Atmosphere)

Mass of Planetary Bodies
• The location of the
Such a planet would most likely be
habitable at distances that would
result in smaller planets icing over.
Similarly, a smaller planet, with a
thinner atmosphere, will likely be
habitable at distances at which the
oceans of a more massive world
would boil.

“habitable zone” around a

star will therefore be a
function of the mass of
the planet in question. A
more massive planet, with
a more massive
atmosphere, will likely
have a stronger
greenhouse effect.
Mass of Planetary Bodies
• A more massive planet, with a more massive
atmosphere, will likely have a stronger greenhouse
effect. Such a planet would most likely be habitable at
distances that would result in smaller planets icing over. (The planets greenhouse effect)

Similarly, a smaller planet, with a

thinner atmosphere, will likely be
habitable at distances at which the
oceans of a more massive world
would boil.
 Mass of Planetary Bodies

• Planets with compositions that differ from those of planets in

our Solar System have been largely ignored, even though a
wide range of stellar compositions and planetary densities have
been discovered. The discovery of life elsewhere in the Solar
System, for example on an icy satellite, would also radically
expand the types of planets that need to be considered.
• A planet's size and mass determines its gravitational pull.
Gravity is what holds the planets in orbit around the sun and
what keeps the moon in orbit around Earth. The gravitational
pull of the moon pulls the seas towards it, causing the ocean
tides. Gravity creates stars and planets by pulling together the
material from which they are made.
Axis and Revolution

A planet must also rotate on its axis and revolve around its parent star (like
the Earth going around the sun) to be habitable.
New research reveals that the rate at which a planet spins is an essential
component for supporting life. Not only does rotation control the length of
day and night, but it influences atmospheric wind patterns and the
formation of clouds.
Supporting Details:
• Since the Earth orbits the sun and rotates on its axis at the same time
we experience seasons, day and night, and changing shadows
throughout the day.
• The Earth's axis runs from the North Pole to the South Pole. It takes the
Earth 24 hours, or one day, to make one complete rotation around this
invisible line. As the Earth rotates, each area of its surface gets a turn to
face and be warmed by the sun. This is important to all life on Earth
 • The Earth's axis runs
from the North Pole
Axis and Revolution to the South Pole. It
takes the Earth 24
hours, or one day, to
make one complete
rotation around this
invisible line. As the
Earth rotates, each
area of its surface
gets a turn to face
and be warmed by
the sun. This is
important to all life
on Earth
 Molten Core

To sustain any type of life, a planet requires a

rapidly rotating magnetic field to protect it
from flares from nearby stars. This is what we
Mercury's Spin
call the core of the planet. A planetary core is a
https://
solarsystem.nasa.gov/ terrific source of geothermal energy, allows
system/news_items/
main_images/
the cycling of raw materials, and spawns a
908_mercurysliced_16
00.jpg
magnetic field around the planet to protect it
from harmful radiation.
 Molten Core
Supporting Details:
• Experts believe that a planet’s core exceeds temperatures
higher than the surface of the sun — over 18,032 degrees
Fahrenheit (10,000 degrees Celsius). It keeps the
temperature stable, but more importantly, it keeps the
Earth's magnetic field in place. Earth’s magnetic field is
created by the motion of the molten metal outer core.
• This massive magnetic field extends into space and holds
charged particles in place that are mostly collected from
the solar winds. The fields create an impenetrable barrier
in space that prevents the fastest, most energetic
electrons from reaching Earth. The fields are known as the
Van Allen belts, and they are what enables life to thrive on
the surface of the Earth..
 Molten Core

Without the shield of the magnetic field, the

solar wind would strip Earth’s atmosphere of
the ozone layer that protects life from harmful
ultraviolet radiation
• The thermal evolution of the Earth is a
consequence of the competition between
internal energy sources producing heat and
mantle convection removing it.
 Atmosphere

Not only fulfills our most basic needs of providing oxygen but
also keeps the planet warm by trapping carbon dioxide and
other gasses. It also protects life on the planet by blocking the
vast majority of harmful radiation. Therefore, any habitable
planet must have all the necessary conditions in place to have
an atmosphere or at least a protective layer of essential gasses.
Supporting Details:
• The planet needs to hold an atmosphere in order to be
habitable because not only does it contain the oxygen we need
to live, but it also protects us from harmful ultraviolet solar
radiation. It creates the pressure without which liquid water
couldn't exist on our planet's surface. And it warms our planet
and keeps temperatures habitable for our living Earth.
 Atmosphere

• In fact, Earth’s atmosphere is very thin, with a mass only about one-millionth that
of the planet itself. Further, about 80 percent of the atmosphere is contained within
its lowest layer, the troposphere, which is, on average, just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles)
thick. While there’s no exact boundary line between the atmosphere and space, the
accepted standard is about 100 kilometers (62 miles) above Earth’s surface. If you
drove that distance on the ground, you might see a change in scenery. But travel
that distance straight up, and you’ll quickly find yourself in an environment
inhospitable to life. At about 8 kilometers (5 miles) altitude, there’s insufficient
oxygen in the air to sustain human life. At around 19 kilometers (12 miles) altitude,
your blood boils unless you’re in a pressurized environment.
 Atmosphere

• The James Webb Space Telescope, due to launch in 2021, will

attempt to detect atmospheres of the most favorable planets
for life, but detailed measurements of atmospheric composition
will require future extremely large telescopes on the ground and
in space.
• Identifying a biological signature in a planet’s atmosphere
requires an understanding of the possible compositions of
abiotic atmospheres. The presence of free oxygen or an
atmosphere out of chemical equilibrium could be signatures of
life processes, but neither is definitive because atmospheres
change over time and are open systems that are subject to
complex sources and sinks
 Atmosphere

• Atmospheric weathering can draw down non condensable

species, like carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere, to the
seafloor, where they can be recycled back into the interior at
subduction zones
• It remains unclear, therefore, what inferences can be made
about the planet’s habitability from its atmosphere before
understanding more about how the atmosphere is tied to the
interior dynamics and evolution of the solid planet.
• On Earth, the environment needed for life to exist and be
sustained is rooted in the presence of a stable hydrosphere
and atmosphere, which are controlled by the planet’s bulk
composition, interior structure, and dynamics
 Atmosphere

• Atmospheric weathering can draw down non condensable

species, like carbon dioxide from Earth’s atmosphere, to the
seafloor, where they can be recycled back into the interior at
subduction zones
• It remains unclear, therefore, what inferences can be made
about the planet’s habitability from its atmosphere before
understanding more about how the atmosphere is tied to the
interior dynamics and evolution of the solid planet.
• On Earth, the environment needed for life to exist and be
sustained is rooted in the presence of a stable hydrosphere
and atmosphere, which are controlled by the planet’s bulk
composition, interior structure, and dynamics
 Atmosphere

• The composition and subsequent partitioning of elements in

the interior will determine the oxidation state of the mantle
and therefore whether the species that are outgassed to the
atmosphere are enriched or reduced
• Aerosols influence Earth’s climate both directly, by
scattering and absorbing sunlight, and indirectly, by altering
the reflectivity of clouds. In general, aerosols have a cooling
effect on climate, which partially counterbalances the
heating effect of greenhouse gases. Under certain
circumstances, however, they may cause additional heating,
such as the case of black carbon in soot.
 https://wallpaperaccess.com/download/universe-desktop-7051 - Galaxy 1

https://wallpaperaccess.com/download/universe-desktop-53083 - Galaxy 2

https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/realistic-galaxy-background - Galaxy 3

https://wallpaperaccess.com/download/universe-desktop-53084 - Earth and Moon

https://wallpaperaccess.com/download/universe-desktop-53087 - Earth

https://wallpaperaccess.com/download/universe-desktop-53098 - Asteroids

https://wallpaperaccess.com/download/universe-desktop-44259 - Rings

https://wallpaperaccess.com/download/universe-desktop-53104 - Everest