The Chandra X-ray telescope and other observatories are being used to study stars that could potentially harbor habitable planets. Future observatories will use the data to narrow down the list for possible Earth-like planets to image.
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
Credit: NASA/CXC/A. Hobart
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00:00Visit Chandra's Beautiful Universe Exoplanet Study
00:07Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA's XMM-Newton, astronomers are testing how habitable exoplanets are based on whether they receive lethal radiation from the stars they orbit.
00:22This type of research will help guide observations with the next generation of telescopes aiming to make the first images of planets like Earth.
00:31A team of researchers examined stars that are close enough to Earth that telescopes set to begin operating in the next decade or two could take images of planets in their so-called habitable zones, defined as orbits where the planets could have liquid water on their surfaces.
00:46Any images of planets will be single points of light and will not directly show surface features like clouds, continents, and oceans.
00:55However, their spectra, the amount of light at different wavelengths, will reveal information about the planet's surface composition and atmosphere.
01:04There are several other factors influencing what could make a planet suitable for life as we know it.
01:09One of those factors is the amount of harmful x-rays and ultraviolet light they receive, which can damage or even strip away the planet's atmosphere.
01:17A team of astronomers began with a list of stars that are close enough to Earth that future ground and space-based telescopes could make images of planets in their habitable zone.
01:27These future telescopes include the habitable world's observatory and ground-based extremely large telescopes.
01:35Based on x-ray observations of some of these stars using data from Chandra and XMM-Newton,
01:40the researchers examined which stars could have hospitable conditions on orbiting planets for life to form and prosper.
01:47The team studied how bright the stars are in x-rays, how energetic the x-rays are, and how much and how quickly they change in x-ray output.
01:57For example, due to flares.
02:00Brighter and more energetic x-rays can cause more damage to the atmospheres of orbiting planets.
02:06They identified stars where the habitable zone's x-ray radiation environment is similar to or even milder than the one in which Earth evolved.
02:14Such conditions may play a key role in sustaining a rich atmosphere like the one found on Earth.
02:20Observing time on the next generation of telescopes will be precious and extremely difficult to obtain.
02:26These x-ray data are helping to refine and prioritize the list of targets
02:30and may allow the first image of a planet like the Earth to be obtained more quickly.
02:35So you will see that in the last decade of its natural impact,
02:39this is a result of the next generation of ģ¬ėģ“-yongets.
02:41This is a result of a related phenomenon in this region.
02:42You can see that in the last generation of tigers are all about the above above above above above above above above above above.
02:47The series of these creatures have been identified by the time to watch the Earth for years to achieve what the Earth is.
02:49You have to arrive in the last generation of thousands of stars but the thousands of stars.
02:51That's a result of a life that often won't be passed on between the stars from the planet.
02:53You have to arrive in their own houses.
02:55How much time do you have to arrive in the future ofoughs...
02:57And I am to arrive in the future here on the planet like the Earth.