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Terminator Zone

All articles tagged with #terminator zone

Life in Terminator Zones: Exploring Planets with Eternal Night.
astronomy2 years ago

Life in Terminator Zones: Exploring Planets with Eternal Night.

Astronomers have discovered that life may exist on exoplanets in the terminator zone, where one side of the planet always faces its star and the other side is always dark. These perpetual dawn/dusk zones are perfect for liquid water and therefore life. Ana Lobo's modeling work is believed to be the first of its kind that demonstrates the conditions and scenarios that show how life on these worlds would be possible. Exoplanets in this paradigm are likely more common than not since they’re found around M-dwarf stars, which make up about 70% of all the stars we can see.

Astronomers suggest 'Terminator zones' on distant planets may support life.
astronomy2 years ago

Astronomers suggest 'Terminator zones' on distant planets may support life.

Astronomers at the University of California, Irvine, have found that exoplanets in the "terminator zone," the ring-shaped border between the permanent day and night regions of planets, could support extraterrestrial life. The researchers used climate modeling to show that planets with a lot of land in the terminator zone could retain liquid water, making them habitable. This finding expands the options for life-hunting astronomers and will inform future efforts to identify habitable planets.