Researchers have provided new estimates for the inner edge of the habitable zone for synchronously rotating terrestrial planets around late-K and M-dwarf stars. Using a 3-D Earth-analog global climate model (GCM), the team has shed new light on the relationship between the rotational rates of planets and habitability around these types of stars. The results indicate that rotation rates for planets at the inner edge of the habitable zone become faster and that the inner edge is farther away from the host star than indicated in previous GCM studies.

The paper, “The inner edge of the habitable zone for synchronously rotating planets around low-mass stars using general circulation models,” was published in the journal Earth and Planetary Astrophysics. The research was supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute element of the NASA Astrobiology Program.