Stellar Aspects of Habitability: Characterizing Target Stars for Terrestrial Planet Search Missions

TL;DR

This paper discusses criteria for selecting target stars for terrestrial planet search missions, emphasizing stellar characteristics affecting habitability, and evaluates potential targets using the Darwin All Sky Star Catalogue.

Contribution

It introduces specific selection criteria for target stars considering stellar activity and habitability factors, aiding mission planning for Earth-like exoplanet searches.

Findings

Identification of key stellar parameters influencing habitability

Development of a target star catalog based on these criteria

Implications of stellar activity on habitability assessments

Abstract

In this paper we present and discuss the criteria for selecting potential target stars suitable for the search for Earth like planets, with a special emphasis on the stellar aspects of habitability. Missions that search for terrestrial exoplanets will explore the presence and habitability of Earth-like exoplanets around several hundred nearby stars, mainly F, G, K, and M stars. The evaluation of the list of potential target systems in order to develop mission concepts for a search for Terrestrial Exoplanets is essential. Using the Darwin All Sky Star Catalogue (DASSC), we discuss the selection criteria, configuration dependent sub-catalogues and the implication of stellar activity for habitability.