SETI public: Re: SETI bioastro: Can ETI exist around red dwarf (M-class) stars?

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From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Sun Apr 04 2004 - 09:06:29 PDT

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In reply to: John P. Roberts: "SETI public: Re: SETI bioastro: Can ETI exist around red dwarf (M-class) stars?"

I think the question and issue is not so much how could life survive and adapt on such a world orbiting a red dwarf star, but how it could come to be in the first place with such harsh conditions. Any theories?

Larry

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: John P. Roberts<mailto:jpr602_at_mac.com>
  Cc: setipublic<mailto:public_at_setileague.org> ; BioAstro<mailto:bioastro_at_setileague.org>
  Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 11:28 PM
  Subject: Re: SETI bioastro: Can ETI exist around red dwarf (M-class) stars?

On Mar 31, 2004, at 11:35 AM, LARRY KLAES wrote:
> Summary: Where should SETI researchers target their hunt for other
> intelligent species? The answer depends in large part on whether
> planets orbiting dim red-dwarf, or M-class, stars can provide suitable
> habitats for the evolution of intelligent life. No one knows for
> certain, but Jill Tarter, Rocco Mancinelli and Peter Backus of the
> SETI Institute want to find out.
>
> http://www.astrobionet/news/article901.html>
>

This was a really interesting article and I encourage everyone to read
it. Also, check out the links at the bottom of the page.

(I was unable to copy/paste text from the article for some reason.)

  Article discusses what physical characteristics a habitable (i.e., with
  liquid water) planet would have if around an M dwarf. One is that the
  planet's orbit would be spin-locked with the star, so that one side
  always faces the star, as our moon does to Earth. Another factor is
  that these stars tend to flare.

  I think it would be interesting to imagine what sort of life and
  intelligence could evolve on such a world. Someone should write a
  novel.

  Anyone interested in astrobiology should read Vernor Vinge's novel "A
  Deepness in the Sky". It's the sequel to "A Fire Upon the Deep" and has
  as central characters a race of beings on a planet around a variable
  star. Periodically (every few centuries?) the star's radiation
  diminishes and the planet cools enough that its atmosphere freezes. The
  creatures hibernate until the star and planet warm again. These
  creatures are intelligent with an industrial society.

  J.P. Roberts
  WJ7P
  Eugene, Oregon

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