Rapid destruction of Earth-like atmospheres by young stars

Researchers show young stars rapidly destroy Earth-like Nitrogen dominated atmospheres. The discoveries of thousands of planets orbiting stars outside our solar system has made questions about the potential for life to form on these planets fundamentally important in modern science. Fundamentally important for the habitability of a planet is whether or not it can hold onto an atmosphere, which requires that the atmosphere is not completely lost early in the lifetime of the planet. A new study by researchers based at the University of Vienna and at the Institut für Weltraumforschung in Graz has shown that young stars can rapidly destroy the atmospheres of potentially-habitable Earth-like planets, which is a significant additional difficulty for the formation of life outside our solar system. The results will appear soon in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. One of the most active and exciting questions in modern science is how abundant planets with Earth-like atmospheres and surface conditions and therefore the potential for harbouring life are in the universe. Much recent research on this topic has focused on planets orbiting stars called M-dwarfs, which are smaller than our Sun and are the most numerous type of star in our solar system.