The Habitable Zone and Extreme Planetary Orbits

TL;DR

This paper reviews the development of the Habitable Zone concept, its application to our Solar System and exoplanets, and explores how planets in eccentric orbits might still support life depending on their orbital characteristics.

Contribution

It extends the Habitable Zone concept to planets with extreme eccentric orbits, analyzing their potential to retain habitability.

Findings

Planets in eccentric orbits can remain habitable if they spend sufficient time within the Habitable Zone.

The Habitable Zone concept has been adapted for application to exoplanetary systems.

The study provides a framework for assessing habitability of planets with varying orbital eccentricities.

Abstract

The Habitable Zone for a given star describes the range of circumstellar distances from the star within which a planet could have liquid water on its surface, which depends upon the stellar properties. Here we describe the development of the Habitable Zone concept, its application to our own Solar System, and its subsequent application to exoplanetary systems. We further apply this to planets in extreme eccentric orbits and show how they may still retain lifebearing properties depending upon the percentage of the total orbit which is spent within the Habitable Zone.