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read moreAstronomers create 2 indexes to rank habitable alien worlds
William Atkins
Monday, 28 November 2011 01:04
A team of astronomers have established two ways to rank planets and moons as to how similar they are to Earth and how likely they are to hold the essentials to produce life.
The authors of this October 21, 2011 online paper include: Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Abel Méndez, Alberto G. Fairén, Philip von Paris, Carol Turse, Grayson Boyer, Alfonso F. Davila, Marina Resendes de Sousa António, David Catling, and Louis N. Irwin.
The two classification indexes are:
1. Earth Similarity Index (ESI): The ESI ''¦ allows worlds to be screened with regard to their similarity to Earth, the only known inhabited planet at this time. The ESI is based on data available or potentially available for most exoplanets such as mass, radius, and temperature.'
2. Planetary Habitability Index (PHI): The PHI is 'based on the presence of a stable substrate, available energy, appropriate chemistry, and the potential for holding a liquid solvent. The PHI has been designed to minimize the biased search for life as we know it and to take into account life that might exist under more exotic conditions.'
The authors thought that such a classification system is necessary because, as they state, 'In the next few years, the number of catalogued exoplanets will be counted in the thousands. This will vastly expand the number of potentially habitable worlds and lead to a systematic assessment of their astrobiological potential.'
They conclude, 'Both indices are formulated in a way that enables their values to be updated as technology and our knowledge about habitable planets, moons, and life advances. Applying the proposed metrics to bodies within our Solar System for comparison reveals two planets in the Gliese 581 system, GJ 581 c and d, with an ESI comparable to that of Mars and a PHI between that of Europa and Enceladus.'
Page two concludes with the top ten planets and moon with respect to ESI and PHI.
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