This may be another factor in the Fermi Paradox: Can life that exists in the water ever develop
technology, or are they like our cetaceans at best?

Habitability of Super-Earth Planets around Other Suns: Models including Red Giant Branch Evolution

Authors: W. von Bloh, M. Cuntz, K.-P. Schroeder, C. Bounama, S. Franck

(Submitted on 4 Dec 2008)

Abstract: The unexpected diversity of exoplanets includes a growing number of super- Earth planets, i.e., exoplanets with masses of up to several Earth masses and a similar chemical and mineralogical composition as Earth. We present a thermal evolution model for a 10 Earth mass planet orbiting a star like the Sun.

Our model is based on the integrated system approach, which describes the photosynthetic biomass production taking into account a variety of climatological, biogeochemical, and geodynamical processes. This allows us to identify a so-called photosynthesis-sustaining habitable zone (pHZ) determined by the limits of biological productivity on the planetary surface.

Our model considers the solar evolution during the main-sequence stage and along the Red Giant Branch as described by the most recent solar model. We obtain a large set of solutions consistent with the principal possibility of life.

The highest likelihood of habitability is found for "water worlds". Only mass-rich water worlds are able to realize pHZ-type habitability beyond the stellar main-sequence on the Red Giant Branch.

Comments: 40 pages, 6 figures; Astrobiology (in press)

Subjects: Astrophysics (astro-ph)

Cite as: arXiv:0812.1027v1 [astro-ph]

Submission history

From: Manfred Cuntz [view email]

[v1] Thu, 4 Dec 2008 21:28:33 GMT (260kb)

http://arxiv.org/abs/0812.1027