Kavli Affiliate: Sara Seager
| First 5 Authors: Sara Seager, Janusz J. Petkowski, William Bains, ,
| Summary:
Thousands of exoplanets orbit nearby stars, showcasing a remarkable diversity
in mass, size, and orbits. With the James Webb Space Telescope now operational,
we are observing exoplanet atmospheres and aiming to reach down to small,
habitable-zone exoplanets in search of signs of habitability and possibly even
biosignature gases. Given the scarcity of targets, it is imperative to embrace
the known diversity and consider the range of exoplanets that might host life.
We review how Earth life interacts with various atmospheric gases, noting that
bacteria can survive in high concentrations of gases such as H2, He, CO2, and
CO. Additionally, we consider the potential for life in alternative solvents
and in cloud biospheres where rocky surfaces are excessively hot, as well as in
hypothesized planetary global oceans. We highlight that life fundamentally
requires metal ions for catalytic reactions, suggesting that environments
without surface contact need meteoritic delivery to provide these essential
elements. Despite today’s observational limits, a suite of next-generation
telescopes is being designed specifically for exoplanet studies, promising to
expand our capabilities and understanding in the future.
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