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Stellar Flares May Expand Habitable Zones Around Small Stars

The search for life beyond Earth has traditionally focused on exoplanets orbiting Sun-like stars, which is a G-type star. However, low-mass stars, which are designated as K-type and M-type stars, have rapidly become a target for astrobiology, primarily due to their much longer lifetimes. This also means the habitable zone (HZ), which is the distance from a star where liquid water could exist, is much smaller than our solar system’s HZ, and is referred to as the liquid water habitable zone (LW-HZ). In contrast, another type of HZ that involves a star’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation potentially enabling life-harboring conditions is known as UV-HZ. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/R20wyrE via IFTTT
Recent posts

Scientists Connect Sub-extreme Solar Outbursts to Tree Rings via Poetry

As we make our way through the latest solar maximum period, scholars and scientists are looking to similar events in the past to learn more about ancient bouts of solar activity. In particular, they want to know more about solar proton events (SPEs). These outbursts of high-energy particles get triggered by flares and coronal mass ejections. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/IVnzYsG via IFTTT

Which Types of Civilizations Collapse and Which Can Endure?

New research examines 10 different types of global technological civilizations, how they govern themselves, how they use resources, and other factors, to determine which types may endure and which may be doomed to collapse. Simulations show that resource use plays the key role. The simulations also show which types of detectable technosignatures each may generate. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/2nJisd8 via IFTTT

China Unveils a Massive 5-Meter Composite Module for its Next-Generation Reusable Rocket

So far, America has remained ahead in the new space race. But its biggest rival is making continual steps to catch up. China announced another step in that direction with the unveiling of its first ever reusable five-meter-wide composite propulsion module, announced in a press release on April 11th. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/MQz70Pw via IFTTT

Behold, the Solar System in All its X-ray Glory

Using the eROSITA space telescope, MPE researchers have successfully isolated the X-ray glow from our Solar System, revealing its impact on the soft X-ray sky. The findings, published in Science, underscore the importance of considering Solar System processes when analyzing X-ray data and highlight eROSITA’s role in advancing not only astrophysics but also heliophysics. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/CqpQzc4 via IFTTT

Exoplanets Without Lots of Water Can't Maintain Their Carbon Cycles

Water is critical to life because cells need liquid to function. That's why scientists focus on finding and studying exoplanets in habitable zones. But even if they're in habitable zones, exoplanets need lots of water to support their carbon cycles. So without water, exoplanets become inhospitable greenhouse planets, regardless if they're in habitable zones or not. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/qjrp2OF via IFTTT

NASA’s SPHEREx Telescope Just Mapped the Cosmic Ices That Will Someday Build Planets

New missions mean new capabilities - and one particularly interesting new mission is finally up and running. Data is starting to come in from SPHEREx, the medium-class surveyor that is mapping the entire sky every six months. A paper based on some of that early data was recently published in The Astrophysical Journal, mapping ice and compounds called Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) throughout some interesting regions of our Milky Way. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/tSA04co via IFTTT