Related papers: Water and air consumption aboard interstellar arks
Aims. We report the results of a novel determination of the solar oxygen abundance using spatially resolved observations and inversions. We seek to derive the photospheric solar oxygen abundance with a method that is robust against…
In the modern search for life elsewhere in the Universe, we are broadly looking for the following: the planets similar to Earth - physical indicators of habitability, and the manifestation of life - the biological signatures. A biosignature…
A major open question in exoplanet research is whether secondary atmospheres are rare around Earth-sized rocky exoplanets. In this work we determine the distance at which an Earth-sized planet orbiting a variety of stellar hosts could…
Water-worlds are water-rich (>1 wt% H$_2$O) exoplanets. The classical models of water-worlds considered layered structures determined by the phase boundaries of pure water. However, water-worlds are likely to possess comet-like…
As part of a national scientific network 'Pathways to Habitability' the formation of planets and the delivery of water onto these planets is a key question as water is essential for the development of life. In the first part of the paper we…
We present a comprehensive study of the abundance of carbon dioxide in exoplanetary atmospheres in hot, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. We construct novel analytical models of systems in chemical equilibrium that include carbon monoxide,…
The habitable zone is the circumstellar region in which a terrestrial-mass planet with an atmosphere can sustain liquid water on its surface. However, despite the usefulness of this concept, it is being found to be increasingly limiting in…
We present a novel, model-independent framework for studying the architecture of an exoplanetary system at the system level. This framework allows us to characterise, quantify, and classify the architecture of an individual planetary…
The presence of a liquid solvent is widely regarded as an essential prerequisite for habitability. We investigate the conditions under which worlds outside the habitable zones of stars are capable of supporting liquid solvents on their…
We updated the agent based Monte Carlo code HERITAGE that simulates human evolution within restrictive environments such as interstellar, sub-light speed spacecraft in order to include the effects of population genetics. We incorporated a…
We use the TRAPPIST-1 system as a model observation of Earth-like planets. The densities of these planets being 1-10% less than the Earth suggest that the outer planets may host significant hydrospheres. We explore the uncertainty in water…
Cold super-Earths which retain their primordial, H-He dominated atmosphere could have surfaces that are warm enough to host liquid water. This would be due to the collision induced absorption (CIA) of infra-red light by hydrogen, which…
We re-examine the constraints provided by Herschel Space Observatory data regarding cold water emission from protoplanetary disks. Previous disk models that were used to interpret observed water emission concluded that oxygen (O/H) is…
It remains to be ascertained whether sub-Neptune exoplanets primarily possess hydrogen-rich atmospheres or whether a population of H$_2$O-rich "water worlds" lurks in their midst. Addressing this question requires improved modeling of…
As a contribution to the study of the habitability of extrasolar planets, we implemented a 1-D Energy Balance Model (EBM), the simplest seasonal model of planetary climate, with new prescriptions for most physical quantities. Here we apply…
We show that terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of M dwarfs older than $\sim$ 1 Gyr could have been in runaway greenhouses for several hundred Myr following their formation due to the star's extended pre-main sequence phase,…
Ocean ventilation is the integrated effect of various processes that propagate surface properties to the ocean interior. Its precise understanding is the prerequisite for addressing essential questions such as oxygen supply, the storage of…
Context: Diffusion of species on the dust surface is a key process for determining the chemical composition of interstellar ices. On the dust surface, adsorbed species diffuse from one potential well to another and react with other adsorbed…
The amount of surface water is thought to be critical for a planet's climate stability and thus habitability. However, the probability that a rocky planet may exhibit surface water at any point its evolution is dependent on multiple…
Challenging space missions include those at very low altitudes, where the atmosphere is source of aerodynamic drag on the spacecraft. To extend the lifetime of such missions, an efficient propulsion system is required. One solution is…