The EXO-UV programme: astrophysics plus biology in the characterization of surface planetary environments’

ABREVAYA, X. C.; ODERT, P.; LEITZINGER, M.; OPPEZZO, O.J.; GUENTHER, E.; PATEL, M R; LUNA, G.J.M.; HANSLMEIER, A.

Workshop; PLATOSpec scientific workshop and progress meeting; 2023

Academia Checa de Ciencias

The exponential discovery of exoplanets in the last decades has led to an increasing in the studies related to their characterization as well as to determine its potential to host life, which is known as “planetary habitability”. Among these studies stellar radiation appear as one of the fundamental factors to be studied, as it can have an influence on the planetary environment and can be a constraint for life through direct or indirect effects. Particularly, UV radiation wavelengths (200-400 nm) can reach the surface of the planet depending on the atmospheric composition and pressure, and could be harmful for life limiting the surface habitability of the planet. Very energetic stellar events such as flares and superflares are of high interest to be studied in this context because of the high UV fluxes that are emitted during these processes that could have biological impact. This has been poorly studied from the biological point of view. Previous studies that have analyzed the UV surface environments on exoplanets to study the impact of UV radiation on life including flares and superflares have been using theoretical approaches employing biological data from the literature. In a recent interdisciplinary study, part of the EXO-UV program, an international collaboration between astrophysicists and biologists that seek to expand the characterization of UV radiation environments in exoplanets we studied through laboratory experiments and for the first time, the impact that flares and superflares could have on microorganisms. We found out that previous studies underestimated the chances of “life as we know it” to thrive under these conditions. During this presentation I am going to talk about these efforts which also emphasize the need of characterization of flaring activity from astronomical observations toward its application in laboratory simulation studies in astrobiology.