No matter how fascinating and exotic other terrestrial planets are revealed to be, nothing generates more excitement than announcements regarding their habitability. From the observation of Mars to present-day efforts...No matter how fascinating and exotic other terrestrial planets are revealed to be, nothing generates more excitement than announcements regarding their habitability. From the observation of Mars to present-day efforts toward Venus and the characterization of exoplanets, the search for life, or at least environments that could accommodate life, has been a major drive for space exploration. So far, we have found no other unquestionably habitable world besides Earth. The conditions of the habitability of terrestrial planets have proved elusive, as surface conditions depend on the complex interplay of many processes throughout the evolution of a planet. Here, we review how the interior of a rocky planet can drive the evolution of its surface conditions and atmosphere. Instead of listing criteria assumed to be critical for life, we discuss how the bulk-silicate planet can affect the onset, continuation, and cessation of habitability. We then consider how it can be observed, and current efforts toward this end.展开更多
基金upported by the Swiss National Science Foundation(SNSF)under grants 51NF40_182901 and 51NF40_205606.P.A.S.thanks the SNSF via an Eccellenza Professorship(203668)the Swiss State Secretariat for Education,Research,and Innovation(SERI)under contract number MB22.00033,a SERIfunded ERC Starting Grant“2ATMO”K.H.acknowledges the FED-tWIN research program STELLA(Prf-2021-022),funded by the Belgian Science Policy Offfce(BELSPO)。
文摘No matter how fascinating and exotic other terrestrial planets are revealed to be, nothing generates more excitement than announcements regarding their habitability. From the observation of Mars to present-day efforts toward Venus and the characterization of exoplanets, the search for life, or at least environments that could accommodate life, has been a major drive for space exploration. So far, we have found no other unquestionably habitable world besides Earth. The conditions of the habitability of terrestrial planets have proved elusive, as surface conditions depend on the complex interplay of many processes throughout the evolution of a planet. Here, we review how the interior of a rocky planet can drive the evolution of its surface conditions and atmosphere. Instead of listing criteria assumed to be critical for life, we discuss how the bulk-silicate planet can affect the onset, continuation, and cessation of habitability. We then consider how it can be observed, and current efforts toward this end.
