The Chandra X-ray Telescope is investigating the habitability of exoplanets. NASA explains.
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
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00:00Music
00:04Visit Chandra's beautiful universe.
00:08Exoplanet Study
00:12Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton,
00:16astronomers are testing how habitable exoplanets are based on whether they receive
00:20lethal radiation from the stars they orbit.
00:24This type of research will help guide observations with the next generation of telescopes
00:28aiming to make the first images of planets like Earth.
00:32A team of researchers examined stars that are close enough to Earth that telescopes
00:36set to begin operating in the next decade or two could take images of planets
00:40in their so-called habitable zones, defined as orbits where the planets
00:44could have liquid water on their surfaces.
00:48Any images of planets will be single points of light and will not directly show
00:52surface features like clouds, continents, and oceans.
00:56However, their spectra, the amount of light at different wavelengths,
01:00will reveal information about the planet's surface composition and atmosphere.
01:04There are several other factors influencing what could make a planet
01:08suitable for life as we know it. One of those factors is the amount of
01:12harmful X-rays and ultraviolet light they receive, which can damage or even strip
01:16away the planet's atmosphere. A team of astronomers began
01:20with a list of stars that are close enough to Earth that future ground and space
01:24telescopes could make images of planets in their habitable zone.
01:28These future telescopes include the Habitable Worlds Observatory and
01:32ground-based Extremely Large Telescopes. Based on X-ray
01:36observations of some of these stars using data from Chandra and XMM Newton,
01:40the researchers examined which stars could have hospitable conditions
01:44on orbiting planets for life to form and prosper.
01:48The team studied how bright the stars are in X-rays, how energetic the X-rays
01:52are, and how much and how quickly they change in X-ray output.
01:56For example, due to flares.
02:00Brighter and more energetic X-rays can cause more damage to the atmospheres
02:04of orbiting planets. They identified stars where the habitable zone's
02:08X-ray radiation environment is similar to or even milder than the
02:12one in which Earth evolved. Such conditions may play a key role
02:16in sustaining a rich atmosphere like the one found on Earth.
02:20Observing time on the next generation of telescopes will be precious and
02:24extremely difficult to obtain. These X-ray data are helping to refine
02:28and prioritize the list of targets and may allow the first image
02:32of a planet like the Earth to be obtained more quickly.
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