Lecture 34: Habitable Zones around Stars
Which stars are the most hospitable for life? This lecture examines the\nfactors affecting the habitability of stars, with a goal of\nunderstanding where we should search for life-bearing planets. We will\ndo this by generalizing the idea of a Habitable Zone developed for the\nSun back in Lecture 30. In this context, we find that the best places\nto search for life would be rocky planets in the habitable zones of\nlow-mass main-sequence stars. There are a number of caveats we will\ndiscuss - tidal locking, stellar flares, and UV radiation - and\nlimitations to the approach, but it seems to be a good place to start\nour search. Recorded live on 2009 Nov 13 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory\non the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.