The appellation ‘habitable zone’ in astrobiology in sooth evinces an overlooked and winding history that can be traced back to the 19th century. This paper sketches how this term from geography was generalized to encompass planetary habitability. The people involved in this narrative are numerous, but the bulk of their musings were rather nebulous. Yet, during this period appear the first true insights, although sadly this saga is not altogether sans blights.

The Kepler data show that habitable small planets orbiting Red Dwarf stars (RDs) are abundant, and hence might be promising targets to look at for biomarkers and life. Planets orbiting within the habitable zone of RDs are close enough to be tidally locked. Some recent works have cast doubt on the ability of planets orbiting RDs to support life. In contrast, it is shown that temperatures suitable for liquid water and even for organic molecules may exist on tidally locked planets (TLPs) of RDs for a wide range of atmospheres. We chart the surface temperature distribution as a function of the irradiation, greenhouse factor and heat circulation. The habitability boundaries and their dependence on the atmospheric properties are derived. By extending our previous analyses of TLPs, we find that tidally locked as well as synchronous (not completely locked) planets of RDs and K-type stars may support life, for a wider range of orbital distance and atmospheric conditions than previously thought. In particular, it is argued that life clement environments may be possible on tidally locked and synchronously orbiting planets of RDs and K-type stars, with conditions supporting oxygenic photosynthesis, which on Earth was a key to complex life. Different climate projections and the biological significance of tidal locking on putative complex life are reviewed. We show that when the effect of continuous radiation is taken into account, the photo-synthetically active radiation available on TLPs, even of RDs, could produce a high-potential plant productivity, in analogy to mid-summer growth at high latitudes on Earth. Awaiting the findings of TESS and JWST, we discuss the implications of the above arguments to the detection of biomarkers such as liquid water and oxygen, as well as to the abundance of biotic planets and life.

Photosynthesis offers a convenient means of sustaining biospheres. We quantify the constraints for photosynthesis to be functional on the permanent nightside of tidally locked rocky exoplanets via reflected light from their exomoons. We show that the exomoons must be at least half the size of Earth's moon in order for conventional oxygenic photosynthesis to operate. This scenario of photosynthesis is unlikely for exoplanets around late-type M-dwarfs due to the low likelihood of large exomoons and their orbital instability over long timescales. Subsequently, we investigate the prospects for photosynthesis on habitable exomoons via reflected light from the giant planets that they orbit. Our analysis indicates that such photosynthetic biospheres are potentially sustainable on these moons except those around late-type M-dwarfs. We conclude our analysis by delineating certain physiological and biochemical features of photosynthesis and other carbon fixation pathways, and the likelihood of their evolution on habitable planets and moons.

We use the critical step model to study the major transitions in evolution on Earth. We find that a total of five steps represents the most plausible estimate, in agreement with previous studies, and use the fossil record to identify the potential candidates. We apply the model to Earth-analogs around stars of different masses by incorporating the constraints on habitability set by stellar physics including the habitable zone lifetime, availability of ultraviolet radiation for prebiotic chemistry, and atmospheric escape. The critical step model suggests that the habitability of Earth-analogs around M-dwarfs is significantly suppressed. The total number of stars with planets containing detectable biosignatures of microbial life is expected to be highest for K-dwarfs. In contrast, we find that the corresponding value for intelligent life (technosignatures) should be highest for solar-mass stars. Thus, our work may assist in the identification of suitable targets in the search for biosignatures and technosignatures.

The recent announcement of a Neptune-sized exomoon candidate orbiting the Jupiter-sized object Kepler-1625b has forced us to rethink our assumptions regarding both exomoons and their host exoplanets. In this paper, I describe calculations of the habitable zone for Earth-like exomoons in the orbit of Kepler-1625b under a variety of assumptions. I find that the candidate exomoon, Kepler-1625b-i, does not currently reside within the exomoon habitable zone, but may have done so when Kepler-1625 occupied the main sequence. If it were to possess its own moon (a ‘moon–moon’) that was Earth-like, this could potentially have been a habitable world. If other exomoons orbit Kepler-1625b, then there are a range of possible semi-major axes/eccentricities that would permit a habitable surface during the main sequence phase, while remaining dynamically stable under the perturbations of Kepler-1625b-i. This is however contingent on effective atmospheric CO2 regulation.

The recent detection of Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, Trappist-1, and many other nearby M-type stars (which consist some 75% of the stars) has led to speculations, whether liquid water and life actually exist on these planets. Defining the bio-habitable zone, where liquid water and complex organic molecules can survive on at least part of the planetary surface, we suggest that planets orbiting M-type stars may have life-supporting conditions for a wide range of atmospheric properties (Wandel2018). We extend this analysis to synchronously orbiting planets of K- and G-type stars and discuss the implications for the evolution and sustaining of life on planets of M- to G-type stars, in analogy to Earth.

The record of reversals of the geomagnetic field has played an integral role in the development of plate tectonic theory. Statistical analyses of the reversal record are aimed at detailing patterns and linking those patterns to core–mantle processes. The geomagnetic polarity timescale is a dynamic record and new paleomagnetic and geochronologic data provide additional detail. In this paper, we examine the periodicity revealed in the reversal record back to 375 million years ago (Ma) using Fourier analysis. Four significant peaks were found in the reversal power spectra within the 16–40-million-year range (Myr). Plotting the function constructed from the sum of the frequencies of the proximal peaks yield a transient 26 Myr periodicity, suggesting chaotic motion with a periodic attractor. The possible 16 Myr periodicity, a previously recognized result, may be correlated with ‘pulsation’ of mantle plumes and perhaps; more tentatively, with core–mantle dynamics originating near the large low shear velocity layers in the Pacific and Africa. Planetary magnetic fields shield against charged particles, which can give rise to radiation at the surface and ionize the atmosphere, which is a loss mechanism particularly relevant to M stars. Understanding the origin and development of planetary magnetic fields can shed light on the habitable zone.

In an effort to derive temperature-based criteria of habitability for multicellular life, we investigated the thermal limits of terrestrial poikilotherms, i.e. organisms whose body temperature and the functioning of all vital processes is directly affected by the ambient temperature. Multicellular poikilotherms are the most common and evolutionarily ancient form of complex life on earth. The thermal limits for the active metabolism and reproduction of multicellular poikilotherms on earth are approximately bracketed by the temperature interval 0°C ≤ T ≤ 50°C. The same interval applies to the photosynthetic production of oxygen, an essential ingredient of complex life, and for the generation of atmospheric biosignatures observable in exoplanets. Analysis of the main mechanisms responsible for the thermal thresholds of terrestrial life suggests that the same mechanisms would apply to other forms of chemical life. We therefore propose a habitability index for complex life, h050, representing the mean orbital fraction of planetary surface that satisfies the temperature limits 0°C ≤ T ≤ 50°C. With the aid of a climate model tailored for the calculation of the surface temperature of Earth-like planets, we calculated h050 as a function of planet insolation, S, and atmospheric columnar mass, Natm, for a few earth-like atmospheric compositions with trace levels of CO2. By displaying h050 as a function of S and Natm, we built up an atmospheric mass habitable zone (AMHZ) for complex life. At variance with the classic habitable zone, the inner edge of the complex life habitable zone is not affected by the uncertainties inherent to the calculation of the runaway greenhouse limit. The complex life habitable zone is significantly narrower than the habitable zone of dry planets. Our calculations illustrate how changes in ambient conditions dependent on S and Natm, such as temperature excursions and surface dose of secondary particles of cosmic rays, may influence the type of life potentially present at different epochs of planetary evolution inside the AMHZ.

The goal of this paper is to take steps towards estimating the frequency of terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of their host stars, using planet counts from the Kepler mission. The method is to assume that an analytical form for the underlying distribution function, numerically simulate the observing procedure, compare the simulated and real observations, and iterate the model parameters to achieve convergence in the sense of least-squares. The underlying distribution can then be extrapolated to a region of interest, here the terrestrial habitable-zone range. In this regime (small radii, long periods), the instrument noise makes such detections essentially impossible below a fairly sharply defined threshold signal level. This threshold can be estimated from the existing data. By taking this cutoff into account, the distribution of planets, as a function of radius and period, can be estimated with minimal bias. Extending this distribution to terrestrial planets in habitable-zone orbits can yield an estimate of eta-sub-Earth.

We explore the general astrobiological significance of F-type main-sequence stars with masses between 1.2 and 1.5 M⊙. Special consideration is given to stellar evolutionary aspects due to nuclear main-sequence evolution. DNA is taken as a proxy for carbon-based macromolecules following the paradigm that extraterrestrial biology may be most likely based on hydrocarbons. Consequently, the DNA action spectrum is utilized to represent the impact of the stellar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Planetary atmospheric attenuation is taken into account based on parameterized attenuation functions. We found that the damage inflicted on DNA for planets at Earth-equivalent positions is between a factor of 2.5 and 7.1 higher than for solar-like stars, and there are intricate relations for the time-dependence of damage during stellar main-sequence evolution. If attenuation is considered, smaller factors of damage are obtained in alignment to the attenuation parameters. This work is motivated by earlier studies indicating that the UV environment of solar-type stars is one of the most decisive factors in determining the suitability of exosolar planets and exomoons for biological evolution and sustainability.

We present a summary of a three-year academic research proposal drafted during the Sao Paulo Advanced School of Astrobiology (SPASA) to prepare for upcoming observations of tidally locked planets orbiting M-dwarf stars. The primary experimental goal of the suggested research is to expose extremophiles from analogue environments to a modified space simulation chamber reproducing the environmental parameters of a tidally locked planet in the habitable zone of a late-type star. Here we focus on a description of the astronomical analysis used to define the parameters for this climate simulation.

Existence of liquid water on the planetary surface is thought to be an important condition for the origin and evolution of life. Planets with oceans (or lakes) are classified in two types: Earth-like ‘aqua planets’ and less water ‘land planets’. The latter shows stronger resistance than the former to the runaway greenhouse caused by the increase of stellar luminosity. We examined the possibility of evolution from an aqua planet to a land planet by water loss. We showed that an aqua planet with less than about 0.1 present Earth's ocean mass can evolve to a land planet without having experience of the runaway greenhouse, and maintains liquid water on its surface for about 2Gyrs longer than planets with larger amount of water. Our results mean that the initial amount of water is important for their evolution paths and habitability.

A decade of exoplanet search has led to surprising discoveries, from giant planets close to their star, to planets orbiting two stars, all the way to the first extremely hot, rocky worlds with potentially permanent lava on their surfaces due to the star's proximity. Observation techniques have reached the sensitivity to explore the chemical composition of the atmospheres as well as physical structure of some detected gas planets and detect planets of less than 10 Earth masses (MEarth), the so-called super-Earths, among them some that may potentially be habitable. Three confirmed non-transiting planets, and several transiting Kepler planetary candidates, orbit in the habitable zone (HZ) of their host star. The detection and characterization of rocky and potentially Earth-like planets is approaching rapidly with future ground and space missions that can explore the planetary environments by analysing their atmosphere remotely. This paper discusses how to characterize a rocky exoplanet remotely.

In a previous study published in Astrobiology, we focused on the evolution of habitability of a 10 M⊕ super-Earth planet orbiting a star akin to the Sun. This study was based on a concept of planetary habitability in accordance with the integrated system approach that describes the photosynthetic biomass production taking into account a variety of climatological, biogeochemical and geodynamical processes. In the present study, we pursue a significant augmentation of our previous work by considering stars with zero-age main-sequence masses between 0.5 and 2.0 M⊙ with special emphasis on models of 0.8, 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5 M⊙. Our models of habitability consider geodynamical processes during the main-sequence stage of these stars as well as during their red giant branch evolution. Pertaining to the different types of stars, we identify the so-called photosynthesis-sustaining habitable zone (pHZ) determined by the limits of biological productivity on the planetary surface. We obtain various sets of solutions consistent with the principal possibility of life. Considering that stars of relatively high masses depart from the main-sequence much earlier than low-mass stars, it is found that the biospheric lifespan of super-Earth planets of stars with masses above approximately 1.5 M⊙ is always limited by the increase in stellar luminosity. However, for stars with masses below 0.9 M⊙, the lifespan of super-Earths is solely determined by the geodynamic timescale. For central star masses between 0.9 and 1.5 M⊙, the possibility of life in the framework of our models depends on the relative continental area of the super-Earth planet.

We investigate the possibility of habitable Trojan planets in the HD 23079 star–planet system. This system consists of a solar-type star and a Jupiter-type planet, which orbits the star near the outer edge of the stellar habitable zone in an orbit of low eccentricity. We find that in agreement with previous studies Earth-mass habitable Trojan planets are possible in this system, although the success of staying within the zone of habitability is significantly affected by the orbital parameters of the giant planet and by the initial condition of the theoretical Earth-mass planet. In one of our simulations, the Earth-mass planet is captured by the giant planet and thus becomes a habitable moon.