Re: Life in the atmospheres of L-class stars.
From: Alfred A. Aburto Jr. (aburto_at_sbcglobal.net)
Date: 03/28/05
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Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 02:30:15 GMT
Orbitan wrote:
> L class have a surface temperature range
> of from 2200K to 1400K, and they are named
> based upon their spectra. They are about
> half way between being stars and brown dwarfs.
>
> Their upper atmosphere is characterised by the
> fact that its temperature will allow the condensation
> of some types of dust with melting points and boiling
> points at extremely high temperatures.
>
> Several questions:
>
> Can anything even remotely with the complexity of
> life be automatically excluded in all circumstances
> in these temperature ranges?
On Earth, for example :-), the most robust lifeform (a type of bacteria)
can survive at maximum temperatures of about 280 degrees C maximum. That
is about the known limit ...
>
> Is it remotely feasible that the atmospheres of these
> low temperature half-star, half-brown-dwarfs could
> have other than hydrogen or helium in greater than trace
> amounts?
You have to go cooler temperatures than the "L-Stars" to start seeing
water vapor and methane in the spectrum of the star. You have to go to
stars with temperatures of 1000K or so like Gliese 229B (a Brown Dwarf
star) ...
See, for example, the very interesting book by James Kaler, "Extreme
Stars", Cambridge University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-521-40262-X ...
>
> Could non-deuturium fusion remain stable on these stars
> for billions of years, maintaining the upper atmosphere
> of them at nearly the same temperatures?
>
> What if a life-form on one of these stars tried to
> shake your hand? How quickly would it be vaporized?
> Could it heal if it happened several years ago?
>
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