Habitability in a Galactic Environment

Galactic Large

The discovery of thousands of widely diverse planetary systems orbiting nearby stars raises challenging questions about life in the Universe.

What regions of the Milky Way galaxy are most habitable for complex life? How susceptible is surface dwelling life to lethal radiation from astrophysical sources?

Habitability in a Galactic Environment focuses on research to quantify and understand the Galactic Habitable Zone.


Grant Funding:

Funding Agency:

Project Title:

Investigators:

Tess Large Planet Small Star

NASA

Confirmation of TESS Giant Planets

William Cochran (UT Austin)

Hubble Aumic Stsci 01h14t7ea6dm759x65gt3d871w

Space Telescope Science Institute

Extending the Legacy of HST Observations of M dwarfs: Coupled Models of Terrestrial Planet Thermal Evolution and Atmosphere Loss

Caroline Morley (UT Austin)

Cpsh Lyman Alpha Figure

Space Telescope Science Institute

Testing the Lyman Alpha reconstructions vital for stellar and exoplanet astronomy

Cynthia Froning (UT Austin)

Mcdonald Observatory 167 0small

NSF Collaborative Research

Constraining the frequency and detailed properties of exoplanets orbiting fully convective stars with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder

William Cochran (UT Austin)

Pexels Akil Mazumder 1072824

CPSH 2020 Seed Grant

Development of a fully integrated opts-thermo-fluidic system for in situ detection of trace chiral prebiotic molecules on icy bodies

Yuebing Zheng (UT Austin)

Pexels Akil Mazumder 1072824

CPSH 2021 Seed Grant

Intramolecular carbon isotope distribution as a fingerprint illuminating the origin of organic molecules

David Hoffman (UT Austin)
Cornelia Rasmussen (UT Austin)