[Space] System Generator

[Mgellis]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Now to giggle publicly. Hee, hee, hee.

The RAW and your program list numerous M class stars with habitable planets. How likely is that when considering that the majority of their output will be in the infrared or lower range?
Habitable atmospheres are transparent to visible light and radio only. This makes any hypothetical life based on other forms of em radiation emitted by the star absurdly unlikely.

I say "emitted by the star", because I have heard of real world fungi capable of deriving useful energy from ionizing radiation. But those are definitely niche organisms not likely to form the basis of an ecosystem of any remotely habitable planet.

Well, Astrobiology dedicated an entire issue to this. The upshot is that a bunch of folks with Ph.D.s did a lot of computer simulations and said, in effect, "Well, there are certainly some obstacles, and it definitely won't be exactly like Earth, but the numbers say it could happen! We should be looking at M-type stars as possible locations for life-bearing worlds."

Mark