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cold just write the habitable zone or
the region of space within a star's
orbit that strikes that critical balance
is often called the Goldilocks zone for
just that reason we know that Earth
resides within the sun's habitable zone
otherwise we wouldn't be here wasting
time on YouTube but what is it exactly
that makes a planet habitable is it
simply being the right distance from the
parent star or are there other factors
that play a role in determining where
life might arise a new study titled
habitable zone predictions and how to
test them hopes to foster a more
comprehensive approach in cataloguing
exoplanets and trying to figure out
where we're most likely to find life in
the universe while we still have a lot
to figure out regarding where life is
likely to arise we do have some ideas
that can help guide the search as of
right now exoplanets are designated as
potentially habitable if they orbit
within their star's habitable zone
meaning they're not so far away as to
risk freezing nor are they too close to
risk burning up the problem with
determining habitability is that we make
a lot of assumptions in the process we
assume that there have to be large
bodies of liquid water on the surface of
the planet we assume that the planet has
to be rocky that it has tectonic
activity and that it has an atmosphere
containing oxygen it's no mystery why we
make these assumptions it's what we see
on earth and each of those assumptions
is based on the fact that we humans rely
on these characteristics to survive but
the things that work here on earth may
not work on exoplanets throughout the
universe
for example there is some evidence to
indicate that atmospheric oxygen does
not automatically guarantee life and
other data seems to show that the
presence of oxygen early in a planets
formation could actually prevent the
genesis of basic life then there have
been other studies suggesting that plate
tectonics are not necessary or that
water worlds may not support life after
all so really we have evidence for and
against all of our assumptions to make a
long story short in order to more
accurately assess the habitability of
far-off worlds we'll need to rely
heavily on the next gen Space Telescope
slated for launch in the coming decade
they'll be able to help us get a better
look at atmospheric conditions on
planets many light-years away and refine
our understanding of the origins of life
but in the meantime based on our current
understanding where should we look for
evidence of life beyond Earth for
starters it's
likely that small stars like red dwarfs
are not bright or warm enough to support
the development of life and that it
might be uncommon that planets orbiting
a red dwarf would have a stable
atmosphere these are still hotly debated
points but at least we can narrow down
our search by eliminating smaller cooler
stars from the running then we have
larger hotter so-called type-a stars
these include Sirius a altai year and
Vega studies suggest that this type of
star is too hot to allow for habitable
planets if we cross Type A stars off the
list of candidates that leaves
unsurprisingly sun-like stars if we
limit our search to star similar to our
own in theory we should be on the right
track to find at least simple life-forms
beyond Earth but the star is only part
of the equation we also need a planet
with the right mix of characteristics as
of right now there are two distinct
types of planet that have promise the
first is rocky planets like Earth or
Mars with large bodies of liquid water
the second is water worlds or planets
that are entirely or almost entirely
covered with water
if Earth is any indication anywhere
there's water there's life so it would
make sense that we would find some form
of life on planets orbiting sun-like
stars within their habitable zone with
plenty of surface water however there's
a big problem with water worlds any
planet with around 50% water by mass
would likely have a thick layer of ice
at its core mantle boundary which would
likely prevent hydrothermal activity the
heating of oceans by subsurface vents or
other hydrothermal activity is crucial
to an environment that could support
life
this activity is what makes Jupiter's
moon Europa so enticing a subject for
study it has massive subsurface oceans
that are heated by geothermal vents
which also provide essential compounds
for life since Europa is fairly close by
in cosmic terms it would make a prime
for study for the viability of water
worlds if we were to find life on Europa
it would all but guarantee success on
other similar watery planets in the
meantime based on our current
understanding of biological processes
and their connection to planet formation
the best places to look for life as we
know it are rocky planets with sun-like
stars of course if we expand our
imagination to include forms of life
that are very different from what we see
on earth places like Saturn's moon Titan
could be quite promising Titan is home
to an environment that is almost perfect
for the development of exotic life it's
rich in prebiotics conditions and
organic chemistry the only difference is
in
of liquid water Titan has lakes of
liquid methane the question is is it
water that leads to the development of
life or is it simply the presence of a
liquid solvent to serve as a breeding
ground for simple compounds to answer
that question we'll need to launch a
mission to Titan if we found life there
it would shatter the preconceptions we
have about the necessary conditions for
life and we'd need to completely
re-evaluate our targets for study but
until then we're stuck mostly guessing
at where we might find extraterrestrial
life forms in this humble youtubers
opinion we should send missions to both
Europa and Titan and probably Enceladus
for good measure
we have promising locations in our own
neighborhood and it would be a waste not
to study them more fully we should
absolutely use the upcoming next-gen
space telescopes to have a closer look
at super distant exoplanets but when it
comes to space closer is much easier the
science of habitability is challenging
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