Most Habitable Stars

In our search for new star systems and planets in our universe we have learned that many habitable worlds likely exist, it's still certain that some stars are just more habitable for life! There are many different types of stars in the universe. If you think about it, What lights the night sky might of been one of life's first questions. The answer is starlight, everything we see is made of starlight. Light allows us the see the universe, and allows the universe to exist itself. Stars, huh. Well there are many types of stars. These stars can be classified in many ways, by size, by brightness, by composition, or by ? A few types of stars are: Type O Stars; bright and massive Type B Stars; bright and massive Type A Stars; bright Type F Stars; massive Type G Stars; less massive Type K Stars; dimmer visable Type M Stars; cooler You could also classify them by different types of habilities or destinations. The habitable zone around a star defines the region where liquid water and life can exist. Larger stars have greater areas for life to flourish, and allow liquids to exist, but do no live as long as some cooler stars that conserve their energy. Smaller stars have smaller habitable zones. For example M red dwarf type star can have a life span of up to 1oo billion years and a K dwarf will similarly have a life span of up to 45 billion years. Stars, like trees plant and flowers have life cycles too. Perhaps even galaxies and the universe itself has a life cycle as well, energy has a mysterious way of being everything and anything.  

However, the amount of harmful radiation from different stars is estimated to be up to 500 times more intense for the habitable zone corresponding to a red dwarf star than a Type G Star like our sun, leaving some uncertainties in our estimation for the capability of life to thrive there. Type G Star's habitable zones are so close that any planet there would recieves varying amounts of X-Ray and UV radiation, and if a planet evolves too to it's star, it can be stripped of water and atmosphere. Scientists are now a little less enthusiastic about the odds of finding life around Type M Red Dwarfs because of this, perhaps unless conditions were just right.

If you were classying the ability for life to flourish on a planet, you might stop to think about different types of light. For example, A Type K Star planet in the habitable zone may recieve up to 25 times the amount of harmful radiations, than a planet our sun also. Red dwarfs actually make most of the Milky Ways Star Population with about 73% of stars being cooler red dwarfs. K dwarfs are estimated to make up about 13%.

As our own sun A Type G Star has foster life to flourish on Earth, these types of stars also are a great place to start looking for life in the universe as well. Our own sun is actually about halfway through it's lifespan; whereas a Type K Star would typically survive four times longer than our sun increasing the odds that life could evolve there. Earth will likely be uninhabitable within the next 1 to 2 billion years as stars like our sun slowly over time grow hotter and expand. This effect would push earth closer to the inner edge of it's habitable zone; having adverse effects such as the burning off earth's atmospheres and oceans, leaving earth looking much more like mars in the future. At the end of the earth's life cycle it will swell up and become a red giant star and swallow the inner planets entirely. Realistically, while we still have a great many years.. someday mankind will have to move to the stars to survive.

According to mathematical estimates of longevity and habituality Type K Stars would be the next best place to look for life supporting habitable zones. These slightly cooler Type K Stars are also three times as populous in our own Milky Way Galaxy. More than 1,000 type stars lie within 100 light years of our own sun. Some of the most famous Type K stars found to host planets are Kepler-442, Tua Ceti, and Epsilon Eridani. The stars Tua Ceti and Epsilon Eridani were also targets of the 1950's Project Ozma which attempted to find radio transmissions from extraterrestrial civilizations.

Kepler-442 is an extraordinary target because of it's K5V Star classification, being on the hot side of the K Spectrum it also hosts a solid rocky planets roughly two times the mass of Earth. Being one of Kepler's newly found super earths orbiting a Goldilocks Star perfect for life to evolve.

Kepler 442 also known as KIC 4138008 is located roughly 1200 light years away from Earth in the Constellation of Lyra, putting it beyond our immediate limitations for space travel. Discovered in The first Kepler mission this system is a gem because there are many complications to detect an earth sized planets via transit method.

If you would like to have a look for yourself follow these instructions to view Kepler 442 in the night sky.

Download Google Earth Pro for desktop

Load the program

Enter Sky mode (click the saturn icon)

Follow this link and copy the J200 coordinates

19 01 27.979 +39 16 48.29

Plug in coordinates in search box and Enjoy!

You will land in the Constellation of Lyra right next to Vega.

Sample of Google Earth Pro Keyhole Data