NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Habitable moons around extrasolar giant planetsPossible planetary objects have now been discovered orbiting nine different main-sequence stars. These companion objects (some of which might actually be brown dwarfs) all have a mass at least half that of Jupiter, and are therefore unlikely to be hospitable to Earth-like life: jovian planets and brown dwarfs support neither a solid nor a liquid surface near which organisms might dwell. Here we argue that rocky moons orbiting these companions could be habitable if the planet-moon system orbits the parent star within the so-called 'habitable zone', where life-supporting liquid water could be present. The companions to the stars 16 Cygni B and 47 Ursae Majoris might satisfy this criterion. Such a moon would, however, need to be large enough (>0.12 Earth masses) to retain a substantial and long-lived atmosphere, and would also need to possess a strong magnetic field in order to prevent its atmosphere from being sputtered away by the constant bombardment of energetic ions from the planet's magnetosphere.
Document ID
20040173047
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Williams, D. M.
(University Park 16802 United States)
Kasting, J. F.
Wade, R. A.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
January 16, 1997
Publication Information
Publication: Nature
Volume: 385
Issue: 6613
ISSN: 0028-0836
Subject Category
Exobiology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Discipline Exobiology
Non-NASA Center

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available