Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.b11e..05l&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #B11E-05
Physics
[0343] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Planetary Atmospheres, [0456] Biogeosciences / Life In Extreme Environments, [5470] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Surface Materials And Properties, [6296] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Extra-Solar Planets
Scientific paper
A stringent test for the hypothesis that life is a general outcome of suitable physical and chemical processes is to search for life in planetary environments very different from that on Earth. Saturn’s moon Titan is one such target where hydrocarbon seas might host an exotic type of life. Further, Titan represents a planetary environment potentially abundant throughout the cosmos, because its effective temperature corresponds to that experienced by a body orbiting ~1 AU from a late M-dwarf, and suitable for direct spectroscopic study. Unlike the classical liquid-water habitable zone at ~0.1 AU from an M-dwarf, where tidal locking and effects of flares render habitability doubtful, the 1 AU zone is much less severe. A search for rocky/icy exoplanets with methane-rich atmospheres at appropriate distances from M-dwarfs--the cosmos' most abundant main sequence type-- would put exploration of Titan in a cosmic context.
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