Cited by 210Stellar, planetary, and galactic studiesAstro and Planetary ScienceAstrophysics and Star Formation Studies

A Decreased Probability of Habitable Planet Formation around Low‐Mass Stars

Open access
Raymond, Sean N., Scalo, John, Meadows, Victoria S.·2007·The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

Smaller terrestrial planets (≲0.3 M ⊕ ) are less likely to retain the substantial atmospheres and ongoing tectonic activity probably required to support life. A key element in determining whether sufficiently massive sustainably habitable planets can form is the availability of solid planet-forming material. We use dynamical simulations of terrestrial planet formation from planetary embryos and simple scaling arguments to explore the implications of correlations between terrestrial planet mass, disk mass, and the mass of the parent star. We assume that the protoplanetary disk mass scales with stellar mass as M disk ∝ fM , where f measures the relative disk mass and 1/2 < h < 2, so that disk mass decreases with decreasing stellar mass. We consider systems without Jovian planets, based on current models and observations for M stars. We assume the mass of a planet formed in some annulus of a disk with given parameters is proportional to the disk mass in that annulus and show with a suite of simulations of late-stage accretion that the adopted prescription is surprisingly accurate. Our results suggest that the fraction of systems with sufficient disk mass to form >0.3 M ⊕ habitable planets decreases for low-mass stars for every realistic combination of parameters. This habitable fraction is small for stellar masses below a mass in the interval 0.5-0.8 M ☉ , depending on disk parameters, an interval that excludes most M stars. Radial mixing and therefore water delivery are inefficient in the lower mass disks commonly found around low-mass stars, such that terrestrial planets in the habitable zones of most low-mass stars are likely to be small and dry.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1086/521587

Cites

82 of 82 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • There is a decreased probability of habitable planet formation around late-K and M dwarfs.

    “Additionally, as argued by Raymond et al. (2007), there is a decreased probability of habitable planet formation around those stars.”

    From ABOUT EXOBIOLOGY: THE CASE FOR DWARF K STARS (2016) · cites this paper as Raymond et al. (2007)

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

11 of the 93 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Raymond, S. N., Scalo, J., & Meadows, V. S.
Affiliations
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
  • NASA Astrobiology Institute (US)
  • California Institute of Technology (US)
Venue
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2007-11
Volume
669
Issue
1
Pages
606-614
ISSN
  • 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
  • 1538-4357
OpenAlex
W2121758014
Cited by
210
References
93
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 6
FWCI
4.59
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • The Astrophysical Journal (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • CaltechAUTHORS (California Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNG04GK43G)
  • Oak Ridge Associated Universities
  • Weber State University
  • NASA Astrobiology Institute
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
Keywords
habitable planets, terrestrial planet formation, low-mass stars, M dwarfs, planetary embryos, radial mixing, water delivery, planetary mass, habitable zone, planetary atmospheres

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review