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Your guide to exoplanet habitability

(for life as we know it)

ATMOSPHERE

Temperate Climate

To keep oceans of liquid water, a planet requires a temperate climate. This means an atmosphere that supplies the right amount of global warming.

Water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO), methane (CH4), clouds and particles all can impact surface temperature.

Detecting gases that are made by life is one way we could confirm a planet’s habitability.

SOURCES

Based on “Impact of Space Weather on Climate and Habitability of Terrestrial Type of Exoplanets,” Airapetian et al. (2019). Specific contributions from Ravi Kumar Kopparapu, Wade Henning and Joshua Schlieder.