The Pale Orange Dot: The Spectrum and Habitability of Hazy Archean Earth.

ABSTRACT: Recognizing whether a planet can support life is a primary goal of future exoplanet spectral characterization missions, but past research on habitability assessment has largely ignored the vastly different conditions that have existed in our planet's long habitable history. This study presents simulations of a habitable yet dramatically different phase of Earth's history, when the atmosphere contained a Titan-like, organic-rich haze. Prior work has claimed a haze-rich Archean Earth (3.8-2.5 billion years ago) would be frozen due to the haze's cooling effects. However, no previous studies have self-consistently taken into account climate, photochemistry, and fractal hazes. Here, we demonstrate using coupled climate-photochemical-microphysical simulations that hazes can cool the planet's sur

SUBMITTER: Arney G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5148108 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature