Related papers: Tidal Limits to Planetary Habitability
High obliquity planets represent potentially extreme limits of terrestrial climate, as they exhibit large seasonality, a reversed annual-mean pole-to-equator gradient of stellar heating, and novel cryospheres. A suite of 3-D global climate…
Standard definitions of habitability assume that life requires the presence of planetary gravity wells to stabilize liquid water and regulate surface temperature. Here the consequences of relaxing this assumption are evaluated. Temperature,…
The dominant paradigm in assigning "habitability"' to terrestrial planets is to define a circumstellar habitable zone: the locus of orbital radii in which the planet is neither too hot nor too cold for life as we know it. One dimensional…
The potential habitability of a terrestrial planet is usually defined by the possible existence of liquid water on its surface. The potential presence of liquid water depends on many factors such as, most importantly, surface temperatures.…
Moons of giant planets may represent an alternative to the classical picture of habitable worlds. They may exist within the circumstellar habitable zone of a parent star, and through tidal energy dissipation they may also offer alternative…
A habitable zone of a star is defined as a range of orbits within which a rocky planet can support liquid water on its surface. The most intriguing question driving the search for habitable planets is whether they host life. But is the age…
The galactic habitable zone is defined as the region with sufficient abundance of heavy elements to form planetary systems in which Earth-like planets could be born and might be capable of sustaining life, after surviving to close supernova…
We study the interaction between stellar irradiation and tidal heating in gaseous planets with short orbital periods. The intentionally simplified atmospheric model we employ makes the problem analytically tractable and permits the…
Tidal interactions shape the evolution of close-in giant planets and internal gravity-wave breaking offers an efficient pathway for dynamical-tide dissipation, although its population-wide impact remains poorly constrained. We aim to…
We analyzed the thermodynamics of hypothetical exoplanets at very low Keplerian circular orbits in close vicinity of rapidly spinning supermassive black holes. Such black hole exoplanets are heated by strongly blueshifted and focused flux…
During the post-main sequence phase of stellar evolution the orbital distance of the habitable zone, which allows for liquid surface water on terrestrial planets, moves out past the system's original frost line, providing an opportunity for…
The climate of a planet can be strongly affected by its eccentricity due to variations in the stellar flux. There are two limits for the dependence of the inner habitable zone boundary (IHZ) on eccentricity: (1) the mean-stellar flux…
Feedbacks that can destabilize the climates of synchronously-rotating rocky planets may arise on planets with strong day-night surface temperature contrasts. Earth-like habitable-zone (HZ) planets maintain stable surface liquid water over…
With the detection of extrasolar moons (exomoons) on the horizon, it is important to consider their potential for habitability. If we consider the circumstellar Habitable Zone (HZ, often described in terms of planet semi-major axis and…
Among potentially habitable worlds, rocky planets orbiting M dwarfs offer the most favorable prospects for atmospheric characterization, yet their climates may differ substantially from those of Earth analogs. In the tidally locked limit,…
Considering subglacial liquid water, a significant extension of the classical Habitable Zone is obtained. Elaborating on the model of Wandel (2023) it is shown how an atmosphere and liquid water could survive on tidally locked planets…
The existence of plate tectonics on the Earth is directly dependent on the internal viscosity contrast, mass of the planet, availability of liquid water and an internal heat source. However, the initial conditions of rotational velocity and…
Time-dependent insolation in a planetary atmosphere induces a mass quadrupole upon which the stellar tidal acceleration can exert a force. This "thermal tide" force can give rise to secular torques on the planet and orbit as well as radial…
Understanding the limits of rocky planet habitability is one of the key goals of current and future exoplanet characterization efforts. An intrinsic concept of rocky planet habitability is the Habitable Zone. To date, the most widely used…
The habitable zone (HZ) is the region around a star(s) where standing bodies of water could exist on the surface of a rocky planet. The classical HZ definition makes a number of assumptions common to the Earth, including assuming that the…