By — Talia Mindich Talia Mindich Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/harsh-space-winds-diminish-hopes-life-red-dwarf-planets Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Harsh space winds diminish hopes for life on red-dwarf planets Science Jun 3, 2014 4:58 PM EDT Space winds in the habitable zones of the most common star in the galaxy may be too severe to harbor life, a new study finds. Due to proximity, stellar winds constantly blowing from red dwarf stars might be so harsh as to strip the atmosphere of any rocky planet orbiting in the star’s habitable zone. Red dwarf stars are smaller and cooler than the sun, meaning that a planet must be around 9 million to 18 million miles from its host star to be warm enough for liquid water. In contrast, Earth is about 93 million miles away from its sun. Extreme space conditions may also trigger aurorae — or Northern Lights — 100,000 times stronger than those on Earth. “If Earth were orbiting a red dwarf, then people in Boston would get to see the Northern Lights every night,” said Ofer Cohen of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in a press release. “On the other hand, we’d also be in constant darkness because of tidal locking, and blasted by hurricane-force winds because of the dayside-nightside temperature contrast,” Cohen added. “I don’t think even hardy New Englanders want to face that kind of weather.” The research was presented Monday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston. By — Talia Mindich Talia Mindich
Space winds in the habitable zones of the most common star in the galaxy may be too severe to harbor life, a new study finds. Due to proximity, stellar winds constantly blowing from red dwarf stars might be so harsh as to strip the atmosphere of any rocky planet orbiting in the star’s habitable zone. Red dwarf stars are smaller and cooler than the sun, meaning that a planet must be around 9 million to 18 million miles from its host star to be warm enough for liquid water. In contrast, Earth is about 93 million miles away from its sun. Extreme space conditions may also trigger aurorae — or Northern Lights — 100,000 times stronger than those on Earth. “If Earth were orbiting a red dwarf, then people in Boston would get to see the Northern Lights every night,” said Ofer Cohen of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in a press release. “On the other hand, we’d also be in constant darkness because of tidal locking, and blasted by hurricane-force winds because of the dayside-nightside temperature contrast,” Cohen added. “I don’t think even hardy New Englanders want to face that kind of weather.” The research was presented Monday at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston.