Richard Chatterjee

With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers can now constrain the atmospheres of cool rocky planets by analysing their thermally emitted light. However, while the low-mass host stars provide observational advantages, they also expose their planets to intense ionizing radiation that could strip away their atmospheres. Indeed, the first wave of data is consistent with a pattern of airless or thinly blanketed worlds. One of this decade’s major scientific findings will be whether these planets will herald a galaxy that could be teeming with life or further indicate the rare convergence of conditions required for an Earth-like habitat. My theoretical paper on this topic, “Novel Physics of Escaping Secondary Atmospheres May Shape the Cosmic Shoreline,” co-authored with Ray Pierrehumbert, is currently under review at the Astrophysical Journal.