Movie: Cal Poly Pomona/B. Binder; Illustration: NASA/CXC/M.Weiss
This graphic shows a three-dimensional
map of stars near the Sun. These stars are close enough that they could be
prime targets for direct imaging searches for planets using future telescopes.
The blue haloes represent stars that have been observed with NASA’s Chandra
X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton. The yellow star at the center of this
diagram represents the position of the Sun. The concentric rings show distances
of 5, 10, and 15 parsecs (one parsec is equivalent to roughly 3.2 light-years).
Astronomers are using these X-ray data
to determine how habitable exoplanets may be based on whether they receive
lethal radiation from the stars they orbit, as described in our latest press release. This type of research will help guide observations with the next
generation of telescopes aiming to make the first images of planets like Earth.
Researchers examined stars that are
close enough to Earth that telescopes set to begin operating in the next decade
or two — including the Habitable Worlds Observatory in space and Extremely
Large Telescopes on the ground — could take images of planets in the stars’
so-called habitable zones. This term defines orbits where the planets could
have liquid water on their surfaces.
There are several factors influencing
what could make a planet suitable for life as we know it. One of those factors
is the amount of harmful X-rays and ultraviolet light they receive, which can
damage or even strip away the planet’s atmosphere.
Based on X-ray observations of some of
these stars using data from Chandra and XMM-Newton, the research team examined
which stars could have hospitable conditions on orbiting planets for life to
form and prosper. They studied how bright the stars are in X-rays, how
energetic the X-rays are, and how much and how quickly they change in X-ray
output, for example, due to flares. Brighter and more energetic X-rays can
cause more damage to the atmospheres of orbiting planets.
The researchers used almost 10 days of
Chandra observations and about 26 days of XMM observations, available in
archives, to examine the X-ray behavior of 57 nearby stars, some of them with
known planets. Most of these are giant planets like Jupiter, Saturn or Neptune,
while only a handful of planets or planet candidates could be less than about
twice as massive as Earth.
These results were presented at the
244th meeting of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Madison,
Wisconsin, by Breanna Binder (California State Polytechnic University in
Pomona).
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center
manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s
Chandra X-ray Center controls science from Cambridge, Massachusetts and flight
operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Read more from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
For more Chandra images, multimedia and
related materials, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission/chandra-x-ray-observatory/
Visual
Description:
This video shows a three-dimensional map
of stars near the Sun on the left side of our screen and a dramatic
illustration of a star with a planet orbiting around it on the right side.
The star map on the left shows many
circular dots of different colors floating within an illustrated three-sided
box. Each wall of the box is constructed in a grid pattern, with straight lines
running horizontally and vertically like chicken wire. Dots that are colored
blue represent stars that have been observed with NASA’s Chandra and ESA’s
XMM-Newton.
Suspended in the box, at about the
halfway point, is a series of three concentric circles surrounding a central
dot that indicates the placement of our Sun. The circles represent distances of
5, 10, and 15 parsecs. One parsec is equivalent to roughly 3.2 light-years.
In the animation, the dot filled, chicken wire box spins around slowly, first on its X axis and then on its Y axis, providing a three-dimensional exploration of the plotted stars.
Source: Coming
in Hot — NASA's Chandra Checks Habitability of Exoplanets - NASA
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