Kavli Affiliate: Andrew Vanderburg
| First 5 Authors: Andrew Vanderburg, Antoine Bédard, Juliette C. Becker, Simon Blouin,
| Summary:
White dwarf stars have attracted considerable attention in the past 15 years
as hosts for potentially habitable planets, but their low luminosity and
continuous cooling are major challenges for habitability. Recently, astronomers
have found that about 6% of massive white dwarfs seem to have "paused" their
cooling for up to ~10 Gyr. The leading explanation for this cooling delay is
the distillation of neutron-rich isotopes such as $^{22}$Ne in the white
dwarf’s interior, which releases a considerable amount of gravitational energy
as the star’s internal structure rearranges. Here, we consider the impact of
$^{22}$Ne distillation on the evolution of white dwarf habitable zones. We find
that $^{22}$Ne distillation in the white dwarf host dramatically increases the
time that a planet can continuously reside within the habitable zone (giving
more time for life to arise) and that long-lasting habitable zones are located
farther from the star (decreasing the impact of tidal forces). These properties
may make white dwarfs undergoing $^{22}$Ne distillation more promising
locations for habitability than white dwarfs undergoing standard cooling.
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