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The biological impact of superflares on planets in the Habitable Zone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2020

Adriana Valio*
Affiliation:
Mackenzie Presbyterian Universtiy, CRAAM, São Paulo, Brazil email: [email protected]
Raissa Estrela
Affiliation:
Mackenzie Presbyterian Universtiy, CRAAM, São Paulo, Brazil email: [email protected]
Luisa Cabral
Affiliation:
Mackenzie Presbyterian Universtiy, CRAAM, São Paulo, Brazil email: [email protected]
Abel Grangeiro
Affiliation:
Mackenzie Presbyterian Universtiy, CRAAM, São Paulo, Brazil email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Younger and fully convective stars are much more active than our Sun, producing many superflares. Here we estimate the impact of the superflares UV radiation on living organisms on the surface of orbiting planets in the habitable zone of the star. For this we study two active stars, Kepler-96 (solar type) and TRAPPIST-1 (M dwarf). Kepler-96, with an age of 2.4 Gyr, is at the same stage of the Sun when the first multicellular organisms appeared on Earth. The biological impact of super flares are studied on a hypothetical Earth at 1AU of Kepler-96 and on planets TRAPPIST-1e, f, and g for three atmospheres scenarios: an Archean and Present-day atmospheres with and without ozone. We estimated the survival rates of two bacteria and concluded that life would only survive on the surface of these planets if their atmosphere had an ozone layer, or in shallow waters of an ocean.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
© International Astronomical Union 2020 

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