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Galaxies
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Habitability of Planets in Stellar Binary Systems
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Habitability of Planets in Stellar Binary Systems

A special issue of Galaxies (ISSN 2075-4434).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2019) | Viewed by 22573

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Cesare Chiosi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics and Astronomy "Galileo Galilei", University of Padova, Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 3, 35122 Padova, Italy
Interests: stellar structure and evolution; galactic and extragalactic stellar populations; theory of papulation synthesis; chemical evolution of galaxies; galaxy formation and evolution; cosmic star formation
Dr. Silvano Desidera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell'Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
Interests: search for extrasolar planets with various techniques (radial velocity, direct imaging, transits); Planets in binaries; including circumbinary planets; Physical characterization of planets and brown dwarfs; Characterization of planet hosts; Identification and chacterization of young stars

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stellar binaries are very common. This statement certainly applies to the Milky Way galaxy, including the solar system neighborhood. The purpose of this special issue, entitled "Habitability of Planets in Stellar Binary Systems", is to provide an update overview of the prospect of the habitability in binary systems considering the large body of results, encompassing both observations and theoretical work. Regarding the former, planets have been identified in different types of binary systems, as they can be part of different kinds of star–planet configurations. Previous theoretical studies focused on the likelihood of habitability need to be reconsidered, as for some systems the geometrical extent of the habitable zone may have been truncated due to the planetary orbital stability requirement. Some of these results are also expected to depend on the adopted planetary climate model, and may furthermore be shaped by different kinds of star–planet interactions. Akin to single stars, the possibility of planetary habitability may also be impacted by the mode and strength of stellar activity, including but not limited to energetic radiation and winds. Most fundamentally, the formation of planets in binary systems and the impact of stellar evolution on the habitability of planets also deserve careful consideration.

Prof. Dr. Cesare Chiosi
Dr. Silvano Desidera
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • stellar binaries
  • habitability
  • stellar evolution

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 3129 KiB  
Article
Habitable Zones in Binary Star Systems: A Zoology
by Siegfried Eggl, Nikolaos Georgakarakos and Elke Pilat-Lohinger
Galaxies 2020, 8(3), 65; https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies8030065 - 4 Sep 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6165
Abstract
Several concepts have been brought forward to determine where terrestrial planets are likely to remain habitable in multi-stellar environments. Isophote-based habitable zones, for instance, rely on insolation geometry to predict habitability, whereas radiative habitable zones take the orbital motion of a potentially habitable [...] Read more.
Several concepts have been brought forward to determine where terrestrial planets are likely to remain habitable in multi-stellar environments. Isophote-based habitable zones, for instance, rely on insolation geometry to predict habitability, whereas radiative habitable zones take the orbital motion of a potentially habitable planet into account. Dynamically informed habitable zones include gravitational perturbations on planetary orbits, and full scale, self consistent simulations promise detailed insights into the evolution of select terrestrial worlds. All of the above approaches agree that stellar multiplicity does not preclude habitability. Predictions on where to look for habitable worlds in such environments can differ between concepts. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of current approaches and present simple analytic estimates for the various types of habitable zones in binary star systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Habitability of Planets in Stellar Binary Systems)
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25 pages, 466 KiB  
Article
Frequency of Planets in Binaries
by Mariangela Bonavita and Silvano Desidera
Galaxies 2020, 8(1), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies8010016 - 18 Feb 2020
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 3797
Abstract
The frequency of planets in binaries is an important issue in the field of extrasolar planet studies because of its relevance in the estimation of the global planet population of our galaxy and the clues it can give to our understanding of planet [...] Read more.
The frequency of planets in binaries is an important issue in the field of extrasolar planet studies because of its relevance in the estimation of the global planet population of our galaxy and the clues it can give to our understanding of planet formation and evolution. Multiple stars have often been excluded from exoplanet searches, especially those performed using the radial velocity technique, due to the technical challenges posed by such targets. As a consequence and despite recent efforts, our knowledge of the frequency of planets in multiple stellar systems is still rather incomplete. On the other hand, the lack of knowledge about the binarity at the time of the compilation of the target samples means that our estimate of the planet frequency around single stars could be tainted by the presence of unknown binaries, especially if these objects have a different behavior in terms of planet occurrence. In a previous work we investigated the binarity of the objects included in the Uniform Detectability sample defined by Fisher and Valenti (2005), showing how more than 20% of their targets were, in fact, not single stars. Here, we present an update of this census, made possible mainly by the information now available thanks to the second Gaia Data Release. The new binary sample includes a total of 313 systems, of which 114 were added through this work. We were also able to significantly improve the estimates of masses and orbital parameters for most of the pairs in the original list, especially those at close separations. A few new systems with white dwarf companions were also identified. The results of the new analysis are in good agreement with the findings of our previous work, confirming the lack of difference in the overall planet frequency between binaries and single stars but suggesting a decrease in the planet frequency for very close pairs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Habitability of Planets in Stellar Binary Systems)
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25 pages, 6326 KiB  
Article
Planets in Binaries: Formation and Dynamical Evolution
by Francesco Marzari and Philippe Thebault
Galaxies 2019, 7(4), 84; https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies7040084 - 16 Oct 2019
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 4444
Abstract
Binary systems are very common among field stars, yet the vast majority of known exoplanets have been detected around single stars. While this relatively small number of planets in binaries is probably partly due to strong observational biases, there is, however, statistical evidence [...] Read more.
Binary systems are very common among field stars, yet the vast majority of known exoplanets have been detected around single stars. While this relatively small number of planets in binaries is probably partly due to strong observational biases, there is, however, statistical evidence that planets are indeed less frequent in binaries with separations smaller than 100 au, strongly suggesting that the presence of a close-in companion star has an adverse effect on planet formation. It is indeed possible for the gravitational pull of the second star to affect all the different stages of planet formation, from proto-planetary disk formation to dust accumulation into planetesimals, to the accretion of these planetesimals into large planetary embryos and, eventually, the final growth of these embryos into planets. For the crucial planetesimal-accretion phase, the complex coupling between dynamical perturbations from the binary and friction due to gas in the proto-planetary disk suggests that planetesimal accretion might be hampered due to increased, accretion-hostile impact velocities. Likewise, the interplay between the binary’s secular perturbations and mean motion resonances lead to unstable regions, where not only planet formation is inhibited, but where a massive body would be ejected from the system on a hyperbolic orbit. The amplitude of these two main effects is different for S- and P-type planets, so that a comparison between the two populations might outline the influence of the companion star on the planet formation process. Unfortunately, at present the two populations (circumstellar or circumbinary) are not known equally well and different biases and uncertainties prevent a quantitative comparison. We also highlight the long-term dynamical evolution of both S and P-type systems and focus on how these different evolutions influence the final architecture of planetary systems in binaries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Habitability of Planets in Stellar Binary Systems)
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Review

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34 pages, 1850 KiB  
Review
Biosignatures Search in Habitable Planets
by Riccardo Claudi and Eleonora Alei
Galaxies 2019, 7(4), 82; https://doi.org/10.3390/galaxies7040082 - 29 Sep 2019
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 7244
Abstract
The search for life has had a new enthusiastic restart in the last two decades thanks to the large number of new worlds discovered. The about 4100 exoplanets found so far, show a large diversity of planets, from hot giants to rocky planets [...] Read more.
The search for life has had a new enthusiastic restart in the last two decades thanks to the large number of new worlds discovered. The about 4100 exoplanets found so far, show a large diversity of planets, from hot giants to rocky planets orbiting small and cold stars. Most of them are very different from those of the Solar System and one of the striking case is that of the super-Earths, rocky planets with masses ranging between 1 and 10 M ⊕ with dimensions up to twice those of Earth. In the right environment, these planets could be the cradle of alien life that could modify the chemical composition of their atmospheres. So, the search for life signatures requires as the first step the knowledge of planet atmospheres, the main objective of future exoplanetary space explorations. Indeed, the quest for the determination of the chemical composition of those planetary atmospheres rises also more general interest than that given by the mere directory of the atmospheric compounds. It opens out to the more general speculation on what such detection might tell us about the presence of life on those planets. As, for now, we have only one example of life in the universe, we are bound to study terrestrial organisms to assess possibilities of life on other planets and guide our search for possible extinct or extant life on other planetary bodies. In this review, we try to answer the three questions that also in this special search, mark the beginning of every research: what? where? how? Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Habitability of Planets in Stellar Binary Systems)
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