Habitable zone predictions and how to test them. (arXiv:1903.03706v1 [astro-ph.EP])

Habitable zone predictions and how to test them. (arXiv:1903.03706v1 [astro-ph.EP])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Abbot_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Dorian S. Abbot</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fujii_Y/0/1/0/all/0/1">Yuka Fujii</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hamano_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Keiko Hamano</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kite_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Edwin Kite</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Levi_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Amit Levi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lingam_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Manasvi Lingam</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lueftinger_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Theresa Lueftinger</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Robinson_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tyler D. Robinson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rushby_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Andrew Rushby</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Schaefer_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Laura Schaefer</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Tasker_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Elizabeth Tasker</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Vladilo_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Giovanni Vladilo</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wordsworth_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Robin D. Wordsworth</a>

The habitable zone (HZ) is the region around a star(s) where standing bodies
of water could exist on the surface of a rocky planet. The classical HZ
definition makes a number of assumptions common to the Earth, including
assuming that the most important greenhouse gases for habitable planets are CO2
and H2O, habitable planets orbit main-sequence stars, and that the
carbonate-silicate cycle is a universal process on potentially habitable
planets. Here, we discuss these and other predictions for the habitable zone
and the observations that are needed to test them. We also, for the first time,
argue why A-stars may be interesting HZ prospects. Instead of relying on
unverified extrapolations from our Earth, we argue that future habitability
studies require first principles approaches where temporal, spatial, physical,
chemical, and biological systems are dynamically coupled. We also suggest that
next-generation missions are only the beginning of a much more data-filled era
in the not-too-distant future, when possibly hundreds to thousands of HZ
planets will yield the statistical data we need to go beyond just finding
habitable zone planets to actually determining which ones are most likely to
exhibit life.

The habitable zone (HZ) is the region around a star(s) where standing bodies
of water could exist on the surface of a rocky planet. The classical HZ
definition makes a number of assumptions common to the Earth, including
assuming that the most important greenhouse gases for habitable planets are CO2
and H2O, habitable planets orbit main-sequence stars, and that the
carbonate-silicate cycle is a universal process on potentially habitable
planets. Here, we discuss these and other predictions for the habitable zone
and the observations that are needed to test them. We also, for the first time,
argue why A-stars may be interesting HZ prospects. Instead of relying on
unverified extrapolations from our Earth, we argue that future habitability
studies require first principles approaches where temporal, spatial, physical,
chemical, and biological systems are dynamically coupled. We also suggest that
next-generation missions are only the beginning of a much more data-filled era
in the not-too-distant future, when possibly hundreds to thousands of HZ
planets will yield the statistical data we need to go beyond just finding
habitable zone planets to actually determining which ones are most likely to
exhibit life.

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