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Aguzzi J, Cuadros J, Dartnell L, Costa C, Violino S, Canfora L, Danovaro R, Robinson NJ, Giovannelli D, Flögel S, Stefanni S, Chatzievangelou D, Marini S, Picardi G, Foing B. Marine Science Can Contribute to the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life. Life (Basel) 2024; 14:676. [PMID: 38929660 PMCID: PMC11205085 DOI: 10.3390/life14060676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Life on our planet likely evolved in the ocean, and thus exo-oceans are key habitats to search for extraterrestrial life. We conducted a data-driven bibliographic survey on the astrobiology literature to identify emerging research trends with marine science for future synergies in the exploration for extraterrestrial life in exo-oceans. Based on search queries, we identified 2592 published items since 1963. The current literature falls into three major groups of terms focusing on (1) the search for life on Mars, (2) astrobiology within our Solar System with reference to icy moons and their exo-oceans, and (3) astronomical and biological parameters for planetary habitability. We also identified that the most prominent research keywords form three key-groups focusing on (1) using terrestrial environments as proxies for Martian environments, centred on extremophiles and biosignatures, (2) habitable zones outside of "Goldilocks" orbital ranges, centred on ice planets, and (3) the atmosphere, magnetic field, and geology in relation to planets' habitable conditions, centred on water-based oceans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacopo Aguzzi
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
| | - Javier Cuadros
- Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5D, UK;
| | - Lewis Dartnell
- School of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish St, London W1W 6UW, UK;
| | - Corrado Costa
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy; (C.C.); (S.V.)
| | - Simona Violino
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi Dell’Economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Ingegneria e Trasformazioni Agroalimentari, 00015 Monterotondo, Italy; (C.C.); (S.V.)
| | - Loredana Canfora
- Consiglio per la Ricerca in Agricoltura e l’Analisi dell’economia Agraria—Centro di Ricerca Agricoltura e Ambiente, 00182 Roma, Italy;
| | - Roberto Danovaro
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marcs (UNIVPM), 60131 Ancona, Italy;
| | - Nathan Jack Robinson
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
| | - Donato Giovannelli
- Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy;
- National Research Council—Institute of Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnologies (CNR-IRBIM), 60125 Ancona, Italy
- Department of Marine and Coastal Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
- Marine Chemistry, Geochemistry Department—Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Falmouth, MA 02543, USA
- Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan
| | - Sascha Flögel
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, 24106 Kiel, Germany;
| | - Sergio Stefanni
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
| | | | - Simone Marini
- Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy; (S.S.); (S.M.)
- Institute of Marine Sciences, National Research Council of Italy (CNR-ISMAR), 19032 La Spezia, Italy
| | - Giacomo Picardi
- Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM)—CSIC, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; (N.J.R.); (D.C.); (G.P.)
| | - Bernard Foing
- Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081-1087, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
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Luo Y, Hu Y, Yang J, Zhang M, Yung YL. Coupled atmospheric chemistry, radiation, and dynamics of an exoplanet generate self-sustained oscillations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2309312120. [PMID: 38091286 PMCID: PMC10743409 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309312120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Nonlinearity in photochemical systems is known to allow self-sustained oscillations, but they have received little attention in studies of planetary atmospheres. Here, we present a unique, self-oscillatory solution for ozone chemistry of an exoplanet from a numerical simulation using a fully coupled, three-dimensional (3D) atmospheric chemistry-radiation-dynamics model. Forced with nonvarying stellar insolation and emission flux of nitric oxide (NO), atmospheric ozone abundance oscillates by a factor of thirty over a multidecadal timescale. As such self-oscillations can only occur with biological nitrogen fixation contributing to NO emission, we propose that they are a unique class of biosignature. The resulting temporal variability in the atmospheric spectrum is potentially observable. Our results underscore the importance of revisiting the spectra of exoplanets over multidecadal timescales to characterizing the atmospheric chemistry of exoplanets and searching for exoplanet biosignatures. There are also profound implications for comparative planetology and the evolution of the atmospheres of terrestrial planets in the solar system and beyond. Fully coupled, 3D atmospheric chemistry-radiation-dynamics models can reveal new phenomena that may not exist in one-dimensional models, and hence, they are powerful tools for future planetary atmospheric research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yangcheng Luo
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA91125
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
- Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace, Sorbonne Université, École Normale Supérieure, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, Ecole Polytechnique, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris75005, France
| | - Yongyun Hu
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Jun Yang
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing100871, China
| | - Michael Zhang
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA91125
| | - Yuk L. Yung
- Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA91125
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Cooke GJ, Marsh DR, Walsh C, Black B, Lamarque JF. A revised lower estimate of ozone columns during Earth's oxygenated history. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2022; 9:211165. [PMID: 35070343 PMCID: PMC8728182 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.211165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/25/2021] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
The history of molecular oxygen (O2) in Earth's atmosphere is still debated; however, geological evidence supports at least two major episodes where O2 increased by an order of magnitude or more: the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) and the Neoproterozoic Oxidation Event. O2 concentrations have likely fluctuated (between 10-3 and 1.5 times the present atmospheric level) since the GOE ∼2.4 Gyr ago, resulting in a time-varying ozone (O3) layer. Using a three-dimensional chemistry-climate model, we simulate changes in O3 in Earth's atmosphere since the GOE and consider the implications for surface habitability, and glaciation during the Mesoproterozoic. We find lower O3 columns (reduced by up to 4.68 times for a given O2 level) compared to previous work; hence, higher fluxes of biologically harmful UV radiation would have reached the surface. Reduced O3 leads to enhanced tropospheric production of the hydroxyl radical (OH) which then substantially reduces the lifetime of methane (CH4). We show that a CH4 supported greenhouse effect during the Mesoproterozoic is highly unlikely. The reduced O3 columns we simulate have important implications for astrobiological and terrestrial habitability, demonstrating the relevance of three-dimensional chemistry-climate simulations when assessing paleoclimates and the habitability of faraway worlds.
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Affiliation(s)
- G. J. Cooke
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - D. R. Marsh
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
| | - C. Walsh
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - B. Black
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, CUNY City College, New York, NY, USA
| | - J.-F. Lamarque
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
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Barth P, Carone L, Barnes R, Noack L, Mollière P, Henning T. Magma Ocean Evolution of the TRAPPIST-1 Planets. ASTROBIOLOGY 2021; 21:1325-1349. [PMID: 34314604 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2020.2277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Recent observations of the potentially habitable planets TRAPPIST-1 e, f, and g suggest that they possess large water mass fractions of possibly several tens of weight percent of water, even though the host star's activity should drive rapid atmospheric escape. These processes can photolyze water, generating free oxygen and possibly desiccating the planet. After the planets formed, their mantles were likely completely molten with volatiles dissolving and exsolving from the melt. To understand these planets and prepare for future observations, the magma ocean phase of these worlds must be understood. To simulate these planets, we have combined existing models of stellar evolution, atmospheric escape, tidal heating, radiogenic heating, magma-ocean cooling, planetary radiation, and water-oxygen-iron geochemistry. We present MagmOc, a versatile magma-ocean evolution model, validated against the rocky super-Earth GJ 1132b and early Earth. We simulate the coupled magma-ocean atmospheric evolution of TRAPPIST-1 e, f, and g for a range of tidal and radiogenic heating rates, as well as initial water contents between 1 and 100 Earth oceans. We also reanalyze the structures of these planets and find they have water mass fractions of 0-0.23, 0.01-0.21, and 0.11-0.24 for planets e, f, and g, respectively. Our model does not make a strong prediction about the water and oxygen content of the atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1 e at the time of mantle solidification. In contrast, the model predicts that TRAPPIST-1 f and g would have a thick steam atmosphere with a small amount of oxygen at that stage. For all planets that we investigated, we find that only 3-5% of the initial water will be locked in the mantle after the magma ocean solidified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Barth
- Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
- SUPA, School of Physics & Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Rory Barnes
- Astronomy Department, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
- NASA Virtual Planetary Laboratory Lead Team, USA
| | - Lena Noack
- Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Geological Sciences, Berlin, Germany
| | - Paul Mollière
- Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany
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Méndez A, Rivera-Valentín EG, Schulze-Makuch D, Filiberto J, Ramírez RM, Wood TE, Dávila A, McKay C, Ceballos KNO, Jusino-Maldonado M, Torres-Santiago NJ, Nery G, Heller R, Byrne PK, Malaska MJ, Nathan E, Simões MF, Antunes A, Martínez-Frías J, Carone L, Izenberg NR, Atri D, Chitty HIC, Nowajewski-Barra P, Rivera-Hernández F, Brown CY, Lynch KL, Catling D, Zuluaga JI, Salazar JF, Chen H, González G, Jagadeesh MK, Haqq-Misra J. Habitability Models for Astrobiology. ASTROBIOLOGY 2021; 21:1017-1027. [PMID: 34382857 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2020.2342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Habitability has been generally defined as the capability of an environment to support life. Ecologists have been using Habitat Suitability Models (HSMs) for more than four decades to study the habitability of Earth from local to global scales. Astrobiologists have been proposing different habitability models for some time, with little integration and consistency among them, being different in function to those used by ecologists. Habitability models are not only used to determine whether environments are habitable, but they also are used to characterize what key factors are responsible for the gradual transition from low to high habitability states. Here we review and compare some of the different models used by ecologists and astrobiologists and suggest how they could be integrated into new habitability standards. Such standards will help improve the comparison and characterization of potentially habitable environments, prioritize target selections, and study correlations between habitability and biosignatures. Habitability models are the foundation of planetary habitability science, and the synergy between ecologists and astrobiologists is necessary to expand our understanding of the habitability of Earth, the Solar System, and extrasolar planets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abel Méndez
- Planetary Habitability Laboratory, University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, USA
| | | | - Dirk Schulze-Makuch
- Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany; German Research Centre for Geosciences, Section Geomicrobiology, Potsdam, Germany; Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Stechlin, Germany
| | | | - Ramses M Ramírez
- University of Central Florida, Department of Physics, Orlando, Florida, USA; Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Tana E Wood
- USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
| | - Alfonso Dávila
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
| | - Chris McKay
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, USA
| | - Kevin N Ortiz Ceballos
- Planetary Habitability Laboratory, University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, USA
| | | | | | | | - René Heller
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research; Institute for Astrophysics, University of Göttingen, Germany
| | - Paul K Byrne
- North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Michael J Malaska
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
| | - Erica Nathan
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Marta Filipa Simões
- State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau SAR, China
| | - André Antunes
- State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau SAR, China
| | | | | | - Noam R Izenberg
- Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
| | - Dimitra Atri
- Center for Space Science, New York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
| | | | | | | | | | - Kennda L Lynch
- Lunar and Planetary Institute, USRA, Houston, Texas, USA
| | | | - Jorge I Zuluaga
- Institute of Physics / FCEN - Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Juan F Salazar
- GIGA, Escuela Ambiental, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Howard Chen
- Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Grizelle González
- USDA Forest Service International Institute of Tropical Forestry, San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA
| | | | - Jacob Haqq-Misra
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Seattle, Washington, USA
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Turbet M, Bolmont E, Bourrier V, Demory BO, Leconte J, Owen J, Wolf ET. A Review of Possible Planetary Atmospheres in the TRAPPIST-1 System. SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS 2020; 216:100. [PMID: 32764836 PMCID: PMC7378127 DOI: 10.1007/s11214-020-00719-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/04/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
TRAPPIST-1 is a fantastic nearby (∼39.14 light years) planetary system made of at least seven transiting terrestrial-size, terrestrial-mass planets all receiving a moderate amount of irradiation. To date, this is the most observationally favourable system of potentially habitable planets known to exist. Since the announcement of the discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system in 2016, a growing number of techniques and approaches have been used and proposed to characterize its true nature. Here we have compiled a state-of-the-art overview of all the observational and theoretical constraints that have been obtained so far using these techniques and approaches. The goal is to get a better understanding of whether or not TRAPPIST-1 planets can have atmospheres, and if so, what they are made of. For this, we surveyed the literature on TRAPPIST-1 about topics as broad as irradiation environment, planet formation and migration, orbital stability, effects of tides and Transit Timing Variations, transit observations, stellar contamination, density measurements, and numerical climate and escape models. Each of these topics adds a brick to our understanding of the likely-or on the contrary unlikely-atmospheres of the seven known planets of the system. We show that (i) Hubble Space Telescope transit observations, (ii) bulk density measurements comparison with H2-rich planets mass-radius relationships, (iii) atmospheric escape modelling, and (iv) gas accretion modelling altogether offer solid evidence against the presence of hydrogen-dominated-cloud-free and cloudy-atmospheres around TRAPPIST-1 planets. This means that the planets are likely to have either (i) a high molecular weight atmosphere or (ii) no atmosphere at all. There are several key challenges ahead to characterize the bulk composition(s) of the atmospheres (if present) of TRAPPIST-1 planets. The main one so far is characterizing and correcting for the effects of stellar contamination. Fortunately, a new wave of observations with the James Webb Space Telescope and near-infrared high-resolution ground-based spectrographs on existing very large and forthcoming extremely large telescopes will bring significant advances in the coming decade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Turbet
- Observatoire Astronomique de l'Université de Genève, 51 chemin de Pégase, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland
| | - Emeline Bolmont
- Observatoire Astronomique de l'Université de Genève, 51 chemin de Pégase, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland
| | - Vincent Bourrier
- Observatoire Astronomique de l'Université de Genève, 51 chemin de Pégase, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland
| | - Brice-Olivier Demory
- Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Gesellschaftsstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jérémy Leconte
- Laboratoire d'astrophysique de Bordeaux, Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, B18N, allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 33615 Pessac, France
| | - James Owen
- Astrophysics Group, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Rd, London, SW7 2AZ UK
| | - Eric T Wolf
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309 USA
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Clouds will Likely Prevent the Detection of Water Vapor in JWST Transmission Spectra of Terrestrial Exoplanets. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab6200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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