Abstract
Now that extrasolar planets have been found, it is timely to ask whether some of them might be suitable for life. Climatic constraints on planetary habitability indicate that a reasonably wide habitable zone exists around main sequence stars with spectral types in the early-F to mid-K range. However, it has not been demonstrated that planets orbiting such stars would be habitable when biologically-damaging energetic radiation is also considered. The large amounts of UV radiation emitted by early-type stars have been suggested to pose a problem for evolving life in their vicinity. But one might also argue that the real problem lies with late-type stars, which emit proportionally less radiation at the short wavelengths (λ < 200 nm) required to split O2 and initiate ozone formation. We show here that neither of these concerns is necessarily fatal to the evolution of advanced life: Earth-like planets orbiting F and K stars may well receive less harmful UV radiation at their surfaces than does the Earth itself.
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Kasting, J.F., Whittet, D.C.B. & Sheldon, W.R. ultraviolet radiation from F and K stars and implications for planetary habitability. Orig Life Evol Biosph 27, 413–420 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006596806012
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006596806012