Metal-rich stars are less suitable for the evolution of life on their planets

Shapiro, Anna V.; Brühl, Christoph; Klingmüller, Klaus; Steil, Benedikt; Shapiro, Alexander I.; Witzke, Veronika; Kostogryz, Nadiia; Gizon, Laurent; Solanki, Sami K.; Lelieveld, Jos

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37195-4

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Metal-rich stars are less suitable for the evolution of life on their planets

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Shapiro, Anna V.
Department Solar and Stellar Interiors, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Max Planck Society;

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https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023NatCo..14.1893S
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Citation

Shapiro, A. V., Brühl, C., Klingmüller, K., Steil, B., Shapiro, A. I., Witzke, V., et al. (2023). Metal-rich stars are less suitable for the evolution of life on their planets. Nature Communications, 14, 1893. doi:10.1038/s41467-023-37195-4.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000D-86EC-2

Abstract

Atmospheric ozone and oxygen protect the terrestrial biosphere against harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Here, we model atmospheres of Earth-like planets hosted by stars with near-solar effective temperatures (5300 to 6300 K) and a broad range of metallicities covering known exoplanet host stars. We show that paradoxically, although metal-rich stars emit substantially less ultraviolet radiation than metal-poor stars, the surface of their planets is exposed to more intense ultraviolet radiation. For the stellar types considered, metallicity has a larger impact than stellar temperature. During the evolution of the universe, newly formed stars have progressively become more metal-rich, exposing organisms to increasingly intense ultraviolet radiation. Our findings imply that planets hosted by stars with low metallicity are the best targets to search for complex life on land.