All articles tagged with #hydrogen atmosphere
A 2026 modelling study from LMU Munich and collaborators suggests an Earth‑sized moon orbiting a Jupiter‑like rogue planet could maintain surface liquid water for up to about 4.3 billion years without any starlight, if enveloped in a thick (≈100 bar) hydrogen atmosphere and driven by tidal heating—though this relies on favorable assumptions, omits many real‑world complexities, and no such exomoons have been observed yet.
Astronomers propose that moons orbiting free-floating, starless rogue planets could stay warm enough for liquid water for billions of years thanks to tidal heating and hydrogen-dominated atmospheres that trap heat via collision-induced absorption (CIA). Using radiative-transfer (HELIOS) and chemistry (GGchem) codes, the study shows such exomoons could maintain long-term habitability even without a sun, though the models rely on simplifications (e.g., dry atmospheres, constant gravity) and future work will add clouds and water-vapor effects. This expands the search for life beyond traditional, star‑dependent habitable zones.
Researchers suggest exomoons orbiting rogue planets—worlds ejected from their stars—could sustain liquid water for up to 4.3 billion years if their hydrogen-rich atmospheres trap heat via high-pressure molecular interactions, with tidal heating from the host planet providing the energy, offering a plausible path to habitability without a sun.