Dynamical and biological panspermia constraints within multi-planet exosystems
Abstract
As discoveries of multiple planets in the habitable zone of their parent star mount, developing analytical techniques to quantify extrasolar intra-system panspermia will become increasingly important. Here, we provide user-friendly prescriptions that describe the asteroid impact characteristics which would be necessary to transport life both inwards and outwards within these systems within a single framework. Our focus is on projectile generation and delivery and our expressions are algebraic, eliminating the need for the solution of differential equations. We derive a probability distribution function for life-bearing debris to reach a planetary orbit, and describe the survival of micro-organisms during planetary ejection, their journey through interplanetary space, and atmospheric entry.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1802.04279,
title = {Dynamical and biological panspermia constraints within multi-planet exosystems},
author = {Dimitri Veras and David J. Armstrong and James A. Blake and Jose F. Gutierrez-Marcos and Alan P. Jackson and Hendrik Schaefer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1802.04279},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
Published in Astrobiology, but colour plots are in the arXiv version only