Sentences with phrase «potential habitability of the planet»

«A magnetic field protects the atmosphere of a planet or moon, and the atmosphere protects the surface,» says study coauthor Sonia Tikoo, a planetary scientist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Together, the two protect the potential habitability of the planet or moon, possibly those far beyond our solar system.

«We still have a lot to learn about the potential habitability of these planets, but it would perhaps indicate that there may be planets similar to Earth orbiting our nearest stellar neighbors.»

The study does not address whether Proxima Centauri's activity cycle would affect the potential habitability of the planet Proxima b. Theory suggests that flares or a stellar wind, both of which are driven by magnetic fields, could scour the planet and strip away any atmosphere.

Scientists showed the potential habitability of the planet under different atmospheric conditions and orbits using a state - of - the - art model.

Not exact matches

One clue to potential habitability is a planet's mass — something not precisely nailed down in previous measurements of the TRAPPIST - 1 worlds.

Since the bulk of the stars in the Milky Way are red dwarfs, «one can not avoid studying them to understand planet formation or to evaluate the habitability potential of our galaxy,» HARPS researcher Xavier Bonfils, with France's Observatory of Sciences of the Universe of Grenoble, wrote in an email to Discovery News.

Bottom line: All 7 of the TRAPPIST - 1 planets are Earth - sized and terrestrial, making them an ideal focus of study for planet formation and potential habitability.

Their hope is to produce a library of potential planetary climates in the Universe, which can then be used for research on habitability and planet detection.

Orbital variations are also likely to be a generic feature of other planets, with strong implications for the fate of planetary atmospheres (for example, understanding the potential for habitability on other systems).