A study related to the young, Sun-like star Kappa Ceti concludes that magnetic field of the planet plays a key role in making it conducive to life. Therefore, along with the other vital characteristics like rocky surface, liquid water and a blanketing atmosphere, protecting magnetic field is something that is very essential for sustaining life on the planet.
“To be habitable, a planet needs warmth, water, needs to be sheltered from the violent Sun,” said Jose-Dias Do Nascimento of the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics (CfA) in U.S. and University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) in Brazil.
Kappa Ceti, which is located 30 light-years away in the constellation Cetus is much younger but remarkably similar to the sun. Kappa Ceti is only 400-600 million years old which has been calculated from its rotation period. It also roughly matches the time when life first appeared on the Earth. Kappa Ceti gives us an wonderful opportunity to study the history of our solar system.
Like any other young star, Kappa Ceti is magnetically very active. Its surface is full of giant starspots which are similar to sunspots though they are larger and numbers are numerous. They propel a massive steady stream of plasma into the space. This creates a stellar wind which is 50 times stronger than the solar wind. Such violent stellar wind would batter the atmosphere of any planet unless the planet is shielded by a very strong magnetic field. This also means that planet without a strong magnetic field would lose most of its atmosphere. The same has happened in the case of Mars which has turned into a cold and dry planet after losing most of its atmosphere.
After modelling the strong stellar wind of Kappa Ceti against the young Earth, it has been observed that the Earth’s magnetic field was same as it is today or little weaker but it was sufficient to protect itself from such strong stellar wind.
“The early Earth didn’t have as much protection as it does now, but it had enough,” said Do Nascimento.
[adinserter block=”7″]
Author: Technology and Beyond
