Habitability of Planets Orbiting Binaries Consisting of Solar Mass Twins
Abstract
An important problem in astrobiology is the study of the potential habitability of planets orbiting binary stars. Theoretical and observational studies of circumbinary planets indicate that it is not uncommon for circumbinary planets to be located in the habitable zones surrounding main sequence binaries. However, it is also clear that the time evolution of stellar activity of the individual stars in close binaries is of primary concern for the habitability of planets. For example, planets orbiting active stars may lose the entirety of their water budget due to atmospheric mass loss; despite being in the standard radiative habitable zone. Alternatively, stars in some binaries may undergo a reduction in stellar activity due to tidal effects that cause the rotation of the stars to slow faster than single stars. Thereby, magneto-coronal activity is reduced to less aggressive levels, allowing circumbinary planets to maintain surface water. We summarize these effects, which we call the Binary Habitability Mechanism (BHM). We performed orbital integrations of circumbinary, Earth-like, planets and find that resonances play a particularly important role in the stability of habitable zone planets orbiting solar twin binaries in the 20-60 day period range, allowing for the possibility of several habitable planets orbiting some binaries. We present numerical simulations of the effects of colliding winds in binaries containing solar mass twins. We used stellar wind parameters based on solar like conditions for our 3D hydrodynamic simulations. We find devastating effects for close in planets, yet relatively mild stellar wind conditions exist within the circumbinary habitable zone.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #225
- Pub Date:
- January 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015AAS...22526004M