A target list for searching for habitable exomoons

Abstract

ABSTRACT We investigate the habitability of hypothetical moons orbiting known exoplanets. This study focuses on big, rocky exomoons that are capable of maintaining a significant atmosphere. To determine their habitability, we calculate the incident stellar radiation and the tidal heating flux arising in the moons as the two main contributors to the energy budget. We use the runaway greenhouse and the maximum greenhouse flux limits as a definition of habitability. For each exoplanet, we run our calculations for plausible ranges of physical and orbital parameters for the moons and the planet using a Monte Carlo approach. We calculate the moon habitability probability for each planet, which is the fraction of the investigated cases that lead to habitable conditions. Based on our results, we provide a target list for observations of known exoplanets of which the top 10 planets have more than 50 per cent chance for hosting habitable moons on stable orbits. Two especially promising candidates are Kepler-62 f and Kepler-16 b, both of them with known masses and radii. Our target list can help to detect the first habitable exomoon.