Special places in space. Scientists explain where people look for a new home and brothers in mind
In this section of space, you can find a planet that may be similar to the Earth.
The habitable zone of stars, that is, the area of space where life can potentially appear on the planet, is the region around the star. The planets that are here may have liquid water, which is the main factor for the emergence and maintenance of life. What other features do these stellar habitable zones have? Space writes about it .
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Star habitable zone
The habitable zone or habitable zone got its name from the fact that in this region of space the planets revolve around the star at, so to speak, the correct distance from it. This means that the star’s radiation allows the planet to maintain a temperature sufficient for water to be in a liquid state. That is, these planets are not too cold and not too hot.
If the planet is further than the habitable zone, then the water on it will be in the form of ice, and if the planet is much closer to its star, this means that the water in it will simply evaporate due to strong radiation.
On the other hand, even if the planet is in the habitable zone of a star, this does not necessarily mean that there is water there, much less life. The prime example here is Venus, which is neither too close nor too far from the Sun, meaning it technically orbits in the habitable zone, but the planet’s carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere provides the hottest surface temperatures of any planet in the solar system. Many scientists believe that it is useless to look for life on Venus, although there are those researchers who suggest that it may still exist there, as Focus already wrote .
Different stars, different habitable zones
According to scientists, each star has a different habitable zone. For example, in stars such as the Sun, which are called yellow dwarfs, this zone is wider, while in smaller red dwarfs it is correspondingly smaller.
It is believed that yellow dwarfs live much less than, for example, K stars, to which orange dwarfs belong, they can exist for tens of billions of years. Scientists believe that in the habitable zones of these stars one should look for signs of extraterrestrial life or even entire alien civilizations.
But the most common type of stars in space are red dwarfs, although they can differ in their characteristics. Planets also revolve around these stars, but some stars are quite stable, while others can constantly produce flashes and send streams of deadly radiation to their planets.
According to scientists, even if two stars have a similar habitable zone, one of them will still have more prospects for the emergence of potential extraterrestrial life on one of the planets. On the other hand, according to scientists, in the habitable zone there may be planets on which the emergence and development of life is unlikely, for example, gas giants. Therefore, scientists are looking not just for planets in the habitable zone of stars, but for planets that are similar to Earth in size and chemical composition.
Planets in the habitable zone of the Sun
As for the solar system, there are three planets in the habitable zone of the Sun at once – in addition to the Earth, there are also Venus and Mars.
