A New Definition of Exoplanet Habitability: Introducing the Photosynthetic Habitable Zone

TL;DR

This paper defines the photosynthetic habitable zone as a specific region around stars where conditions favor oxygenic photosynthesis, refining target selection for biosignature detection in exoplanet searches.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of the photosynthetic habitable zone and analyzes its size relative to the traditional habitable zone, identifying key exoplanets within this zone.

Findings

Photosynthetic habitable zone is nearly as broad as the habitable zone under ideal conditions.

Under less ideal conditions, it is concentrated around larger stars at greater distances.

Five exoplanets are identified as consistently within this zone, with predicted day lengths of 9-11 hours.

Abstract

It may be possible to detect biosignatures of photosynthesis in an exoplanet's atmosphere. However, such a detection would likely require a dedicated study, occupying a large amount of telescope time. It is therefore prudent, while searching for signs of life that we may recognise, to pick the best target possible. In this work, we present a new region, the ``photosynthetic habitable zone'' \textemdash the distance from a star where both liquid water and oxygenic photosynthesis can occur. It is therefore the region where detectable biosignatures of oxygenic photosynthesis are most likely to occur. Our analysis indicates that in the most ideal conditions for life and no atmospheric effects, the photosynthetic habitable zone is almost as broad as the habitable zone. On the other hand, if conditions for life are anything less than excellent and atmospheric effects are even moderate, the photosynthetic habitable zone is concentrated at larger separations around more massive stars. Such cases are also not tidally locked to their host star, which could result in planetary rotation periods similar to the Earth's. We identify five planets, Kepler-452 b, Kepler-1638 b, Kepler-1544 b and Kepler-62 e and Kepler-62 f, that are consistently in the photosynthetic habitable zone for a variety of conditions, and we predict their day lengths to be between 9 and 11 hours. We conclude that the parameter space in which we should search for signs of life is much narrower than the standard habitable zone.