The Galactic Habitable Zone

1
The Galactic Habitable Zone

• Jamie Tayar,
• Will Burns,
• Sarai Pegram
• John Roebker
• TIP June 28, 2006

2
Contents

• Objectives and Hypothesis
• The Galactic Bar and Habitable Zone
• Resources
• Methods and Our Determinations
• Conclusion and Discussion
• Questions

3
Objectives and Hypothesis

• Objective
• To examine the previously determined Galactic
  Habitable Zone and make our own reformed
  prediction on where life is likely to form in the
  galaxy.
• Hypothesis
• That other factors not taken into account in the
  original prediction of the Galactic Habitable
  Zone, namely the Galactic Bar, affect it's
  placement in the Milky Way.

4
Galactic Bar and Habitable Zone

• Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ)
  The theoretical area of the
  galaxy where life is more likely
  to develop.
• Galactic Bar The bar running
  through the center of the
  galaxy. It is 27,000 light
  years long and is
  defined by a high
  concentration of stars and gas.

5
Other Barred Spirals

6
Galactic Bar and Habitable ZoneContinued...

• The high concentration of stars in the Galactic
  Bar creates a massive amount of supernovae,
  gravitational pull and luminosity
• We decided to examine these factors in detail to
  see how big of a roll they played in the GHZ

7
Calculations
8
Conclusions

• Results from the luminosity functions show that
  neither x-rays, UV radiation nor thermal energy
  affect the GHZ
• According to the galactic dynamics, the new
  orbits of the stars surrounding the galactic bar
  should affect the GHZ
• Supernova are too far from GHZ to influence it

9
Resources

• Brandt, John C.. The Sun and Stars. New York
  1987.
• Binney and Merrifield, Galactic Astronomy. New
  York 1995.
• Seeds, M.A.. Foundations of Astronomy. London
  1978.
• "Galactic Bar". Wikipedia. 06/20/06
  ltwww.wikipedia.comgt.