Date:
Tue, 10/05/201612:30-13:30
Location:
Kaplun building, Room No. 200
Lecturer: Dr. Amri Wandel
Affiliation: Racah Institute of Physics,
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Abstract:
The Kepler mission has shown that
Earthlike planets within the Habitable Zone
of their host stars are common. I derive an
expression for the abundance of life boring
(biotic) extra-solar-system planets
(exoplanets) in terms of the of the (yet
unknown) probability for the evolution of
biotic life. This "biotic probability" may be
estimated by future missions and
observations, e.g. spectral analyses of the
atmospheres of exoplanets, looking for
biomarkers. We show that if the biotic
probability is in the range 0.001-1, a biotic
planet may be expected within 10 - 100
light years from Earth. Of particular interest
in the search for exolife are planets orbiting
Red Dwarf (RD) stars, the most frequent
stellar type. Previous researches
suggested that conditions on planets near
RDs would be inimical to life, e.g. as the
Habitable Zone would be small enough to
make habitable planets tidally locked.
Recent calculations show that this and
other properties of RDs, presumed hostile
for the evolution of life, are less severe
than originally estimated. I conclude that
RD planets could be hospitable for the
evolution of life as we know it, not less than
planets of solar-type stars. The huge
number of and their long lifetimes make
finding life on RD planets more likely than
on planets of solar-type stars.
Additional details of the upcoming Astrophysics'
seminars can be found on the following link.
האירוע הזה כולל שיחת וידאו ב-Google Hangouts.
הצטרף: https://hangouts.google.com/hangouts/_/mail.huji.ac.il/astrophysics?hceid=bWFpbC5odWppLmFjLmlsX2c0czhydDlpcmhwZzRvdGNybWIzZGFqcjdvQGdyb3VwLmNhbGVuZGFyLmdvb2dsZS5jb20.1h0nrn7he3rt2lgvtupsgkd0i0&hs=121