The Galactic Habitable Zone and the Age Distribution of Complex Life in the Milky Way

We modeled the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy to trace the distribution in space and time of four prerequisites for complex life: the presence of a host star, enough heavy elements to form terrestrial planets, sufficient time for biological evolution, and an environment free of life-extinguishing...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2004-01, Vol.303 (5654), p.59-62
Main Authors: Lineweaver, Charles H., Fenner, Yeshe, Gibson, Brad K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age distribution
Astronomical Phenomena
Astronomy
Chemical elements
Company growth
Computer Simulation
Earth
Earth, ocean, space
Environmental aspects
Evolution
Evolution, Chemical
Evolution, Planetary
Exact sciences and technology
Exobiology
Extrasolar planets
Extraterrestrial Environment
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life and intelligence
Growth
Life on other planets
Metal abundance
Milky Way
Milky Way Galaxy
Models, Theoretical
Planets
Prerequisites
Probability
Scientific Concepts
Star formation
Stars
Stars & galaxies
Statistics
Sun
Supernovae
Terrestrial planets
Time
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Summary:We modeled the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy to trace the distribution in space and time of four prerequisites for complex life: the presence of a host star, enough heavy elements to form terrestrial planets, sufficient time for biological evolution, and an environment free of life-extinguishing supernovae. We identified the Galactic habitable zone (GHZ) as an annular region between 7 and 9 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center that widens with time and is composed of stars that formed between 8 and 4 billion years ago. This GHZ yields an age distribution for the complex life that may inhabit our Galaxy. We found that 75% of the stars in the GHZ are older than the Sun.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1092322