The Carnival of Space 319 is up at Dear Astronomer.
TheSpacewriter investigates whether alien moons could offer habitable environments.
Exomoons orbiting planets similar to Neptune, Saturn or Jupiter in the habitable zone of a 0.7-solar-mass star (that is, a star that is 70 percent the mass of the Sun) and with orbital eccentricities typical for solar system moons will be shielded by their planet’s magnetic field, but only if they are closer than the runaway greenhouse edge. That means that they are protected, but their atmospheres will run wild. Ultimately, it means an exomoon can be shielded inside its planet’s magnetosphere, or it can be habitable. But it can’t be both.
So, this is not so good news for future Pandorans around gas giants similar to our own. But, if you play with the variables and come up with a Neptune-like world that is very rocky, there’s a chance it might have habitable worlds AND a giant magnetosphere to shield them.
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TheSpacewriter investigates whether alien moons could offer habitable environments.
Exomoons orbiting planets similar to Neptune, Saturn or Jupiter in the habitable zone of a 0.7-solar-mass star (that is, a star that is 70 percent the mass of the Sun) and with orbital eccentricities typical for solar system moons will be shielded by their planet’s magnetic field, but only if they are closer than the runaway greenhouse edge. That means that they are protected, but their atmospheres will run wild. Ultimately, it means an exomoon can be shielded inside its planet’s magnetosphere, or it can be habitable. But it can’t be both.
So, this is not so good news for future Pandorans around gas giants similar to our own. But, if you play with the variables and come up with a Neptune-like world that is very rocky, there’s a chance it might have habitable worlds AND a giant magnetosphere to shield them.
Read more »
