Study: Search For Life Could Include Planets, Stars Unlike Ours

Research Communications
Ohio State University

Contact:
Andrew Gould, (614) 292-1892;

Written by Pam Frost Gorder, (614) 292-9475;

August 1, 2003

STUDY: SEARCH FOR LIFE COULD INCLUDE PLANETS, STARS UNLIKE OURS

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The search for life on other planets could soon extend to
solar systems that are very different from our own, according to a new study by
an Ohio State University astronomer and his colleagues.

In fact, finding a terrestrial planet in such a solar system would offer unique
scientific opportunities to test evolution, said Andrew Gould, professor of
astronomy here.

In a recent issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters, he and his coauthors
calculated that NASA's upcoming Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) would be able
to detect habitable planets near stars significantly more massive than the sun.

Scientists have typically thought that the search for life should focus on
finding planets like Earth that orbit stars like the sun, but this new finding
shows that "the field is wide open," Gould said.

"Here's a type of solar system that we never thought to look at," he added, "but
now we'll have the tools to do it."

Gould is on the science team that is helping to plan the SIM mission, and he is
working to define the capabilities of the satellite.

The satellite was set to launch in 2009, but its fate is now uncertain. NASA is
considering whether to divert funds to maintain the Hubble Space Telescope
beyond its scheduled retirement in 2010, Gould explained, and he has been asked
to address the issue for an assembly of astronomers in Washington D.C. on
Thursday, July 31.

SIM would help astronomers find habitable planets, Gould said. The key is
detecting planets that circle a star at just the right distance to maintain a
supply of liquid water. The range of most promising orbits depends on the type
of the star, and is called the "habitable zone."

The earth resides directly in the habitable zone for our solar system, some 93
million miles from the sun. The nearest planets, Venus and Mars, barely lie
within the edges of the habitable zone.

Hotter, more massive stars have always been considered less likely to harbor
life, though not because they would be too hot. Planets could still enjoy
temperate climates, just at orbits farther away from the star.

The problem is one of time, not temperature, Gould said.

Hotter stars tend to "burn out" faster -- perhaps too fast for life to develop
there.

Our sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old; in contrast, one of the stars
examined in the study is 1.5 times more massive than the sun, and would probably
only generate life-sustaining energy for about two billion years.

Given the billions of years required for evolution of life on earth, scientists
could question whether life would stand a chance in a shorter-lived solar system.

"We have no idea how evolution would proceed on any planet other than our own,"
Gould said. "If we find a planet around a shorter-lived star, we may be able to
test what would happen to evolution under those circumstances."

SIM will use Interferometry -- a technique that involves the interference of
light waves -- to very accurately measure the position of stars in the sky. The
satellite would notice, for instance, if a point of light on the surface of the
moon moved the width of a dime.

In the case of distant stars, SIM will pick up on the tiny wobble in the
position of a star caused by the gravity of its orbiting planets.

That's what will make SIM ideal for studying hotter, massive stars, Gould said.
Planets that orbit far from a star -- as the habitable planets around a hot star
would have to do -- create a larger wobble.

He and study coauthors Eric B. Ford of Princeton University and Debra A. Fischer
of the University of California, Berkeley, determined that SIM is sensitive
enough for the task.

Previously, Gould and Ohio State professor Darren DePoy and graduate student
Joshua Pepper determined that another future NASA mission could be used to find
habitable planets around very small stars, which are much more plentiful in the
galaxy than stars like our sun.

That mission, the Kepler Mission, will detect planetary transits -- events where
planets pass in front of a star and block the star's light from reaching earth.
Transits of planets orbiting close to a star are easier to detect, and because
these small stars are very dim, the habitable zone would also be very close to
the star.

"The point is that the various methods for planet detection complement each
other, and can be used to find habitable planets around a wide variety of
stars," Gould said.

NASA funded this research.