Monday, January 26, 2026

M-dwarf life is colonial

Joseph J. Soliz and William F. Welsh have looked into - what happens with photosynthesis on M dwarf planets with liquid oceans around the rim. h/t the Wonderful Anton Petrov.

The duo looked at Trappist-1, especially e. On the 1993(!) assumption of tidal locking, -1e doesn't get photosynthetic energy. Maybe in 63 billion years LOL. (This star is 7.6Gy.) We kind of already knew this. Purple photosynthesis is possible but that doesn't cough up oxygen for us.

[UPDATE 7/28: Refer to Revol-Bolmont on the Trappists' days. But if our planet isn't tidally locked, its nights are long enough it's regularly cold too long.]

Or, says Petrov: K stars, although I dunno. Alternatively if we do find oxygen in a M-dwarf system, then somebody has dropped by to terraform a planet there...

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