Exomoon habitability constrained by energy flux and orbital stability

TL;DR

This study refines models of exomoon habitability by incorporating eclipse effects, tidal heating, and orbital stability constraints, concluding that habitable exomoons are unlikely around stars below 0.2 solar masses due to runaway greenhouse risks.

Contribution

It introduces an improved model for exomoon habitability that accounts for eclipses, orbital energy flux, and stability criteria, providing new limits on host star mass for potential habitable moons.

Findings

Eclipses can reduce stellar illumination by up to 6%.

Habitable exomoons likely require host stars above ~0.2 solar masses.

Orbital stability constraints limit habitable exomoons around stars below ~0.5 solar masses.

Abstract

Detecting massive satellites of extrasolar planets has now become feasible, which led naturally to questions about their habitability. In a previous study we presented constraints on the habitability of moons from stellar and planetary illumination as well as from tidal heating. Here I refine our model by including the effect of eclipses on the orbit-averaged illumination. Moons in low-mass stellar systems must orbit their planet very closely to remain bound, which puts them at risk of strong tidal heating. I first describe the effect of eclipses on stellar illumination of satellites. Then I calculate the orbit-averaged energy flux including illumination from the planet and tidal heating. Habitability is defined by a scaling relation at which a moon loses its water by the runaway greenhouse process. As a working hypothesis, orbital stability is assumed if the moon's orbital period is less than 1/9 of the planet's orbital period. Due to eclipses, a satellite in a close orbit can experience a reduction in orbit-averaged stellar flux by up to about 6%. The smaller the semi-major axis and the lower the inclination of the moon's orbit, the stronger the reduction. I find a lower mass limit of ~0.2M_sun for exomoon host stars to avoid the runaway greenhouse effect. Precise estimates depend on the satellite's orbital eccentricity. Deleterious effects on exomoon habitability may occur up to ~0.5M_sun. Although the habitable zone lies close to low-mass stars, which allows for many transits of planet-moon binaries within a given observation cycle, resources should not be spent to trace habitable satellites around them. Gravitational perturbations by the star, another planet, or another satellite induce eccentricities that likely make any moon uninhabitable. Estimates for individual systems require dynamical simulations that include perturbations among all bodies and tidal heating in the satellite.