In this project we search for a planet in a triple-stellar system that could be habitable and a potential host to complex, human-like life. The first step in the search for potentially habitable planets involved examining catalogs of triple-stellar systems with known exoplanets and quadruple-star systems in which one of the stars could be swapped for a planet. Then, for all the potential planets, we estimated whether they lay within the habitable zone. For all systems with planets in the habitable zone, we used previously published climate model simulations of similar systems to gain a better understanding of the potential climate of these planets. Furthermore, the simulation program VPlanet was used to check the dynamical stability of systems in which one of the stars was swapped with a planet. In total, 10 planets were found to be within the habitable zone and were closer examined, with 6 of them being already existing planets and 4 of them being fabricated. Despite all of the planets lying within the habitable zone, they showed varying degrees of suitability for hosting life, with most planets being substantially cooler than Earth. None of the existing exoplanets had a suitable climate for human-like life, and none of the fabricated systems proved to be dynamically stable. However, the fabricated system that demonstrated the highest amount of stability in simulations was the one in which the planet and the stars were most similar in size. This leads us to conclude that optimal dynamical stability is achieved when the system components are of comparable size.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-532239 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Öhrnberg, Tyra, Sjunnesson, Norea |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | MATVET-F ; 24022 |
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