A recent study outlines how ‘statistical marginalization’ could aid in the search for habitable exoplanets. Finding habitable worlds beyond our solar system is a major focus of astrobiology. Much of the work being done in this field today involves observing individual planets with many measurements in an attempt to obtain a thorough understanding of their characteristics and potential habitability.

The authors of the new study propose a complementary approach that doesn’t focus on individual planets. Instead, the method involves surveying key planetary characteristics, and using statistics to answer broad questions with just a small sample set. The method could help scientists learn as much as possible from each type of measurement used to study planets; and would work by applying that measurement to a sample set rather than using multiple types of observations on a single object.

As a proof of concept, the team outlined a survey of rocky planets with water and carbon dioxide in their atmospheres as a method of testing the habitable zone hypothesis. Ideas for further surveys that could be used to test hypotheses relevant to exoplanet studies are also discussed in the paper.

The study, “A Statistical Comparative Planetology Approach to the Hunt for Habitable Exoplanets and Life Beyond the Solar System,” was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The work was supported through NASA’s Habitable Worlds Program. NASA Astrobiology provides resources for this and other Research and Analysis programs within the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) that solicit proposals relevant to astrobiology research.