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Stellar Composition, Structure and Evolution: Impact on Habitability

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Handbook of Exoplanets

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Abstract

While we can imagine numerous scenarios in which diverse types of planets could support life in exotic conditions, for pragmatic reasons the most attention still goes to an Earth-like situation where a surface or near-subsurface biome is made possible by the presence of liquid water. With few exceptions, by far the most important source of energy determining the planet’s surface conditions is instellation from the host star. This is not a constant quantity over the star’s life. If long-term stability is necessary to support detectable life, then the stellar evolution must be taken into account when determining habitability. Stellar composition in turn has a fundamental effect on stellar evolution. The range of variation in individual elements observed in nearby stars is much larger than what is considered in most stellar modeling and can result in gigayear-scale changes in the evolution of sun-like stars. Measurements of stellar composition can also provide insight into the nature of the planets themselves.

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Acknowledgments

Some of the results reported herein benefitted from collaborations and/or information exchange within NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NExSS) research coordination network sponsored by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Patrick A. Young

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  1. Patrick A. Young
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Correspondence to Patrick A. Young .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , La Laguna, Spain

    Hans J. Deeg

  2. Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, La Laguna, Spain

    Juan Antonio Belmonte

Section Editor information

  1. Astronomy Department, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

    Victoria Meadows

  2. Astronomy Department, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Rory Barnes

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Young, P.A. (2018). Stellar Composition, Structure and Evolution: Impact on Habitability. In: Deeg, H., Belmonte, J. (eds) Handbook of Exoplanets . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30648-3_60-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30648-3_60-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-30648-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-30648-3

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