International Journal of Astrobiology 11 (3): 157–161 (2012) 157

doi:10.1017/S1473550412000055 © Cambridge University Press 2012

The galactic habitable zone in

elliptical galaxies
Falguni Suthar and Christopher P. McKay
Space Science Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA

e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: The concept of a Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ) was introduced for the Milky Way galaxy a
decade ago as an extension of the earlier concept of the Circumstellar Habitable Zone. In this work, we
consider the extension of the concept of a GHZ to other types of galaxies by considering two elliptical
galaxies as examples, M87 and M32. We argue that the defining feature of the GHZ is the probability of
planet formation which has been assumed to depend on the metallicity. We have compared the metallicity
distribution of nearby stars with the metallicity of stars with planets to document the correlation between
metallicity and planet formation and to provide a comparison to other galaxies. Metallicity distribution,
based on the [Fe/H] ratio to solar, of nearby stars peaks at [Fe/H] & − 0.2 dex, whereas the metallicity
distribution of extrasolar planet host stars peaks at [Fe/H] & + 0.4 dex. We compare the metallicity
distribution of extrasolar planet host stars with the metallicity distribution of the outer star clusters of M87
and M32. The metallicity distribution of stars in the outer regions of M87 peaks at [Fe/H] & − 0.2 dex and
extends to [Fe/H] & + 0.4 dex, which seems favourable for planet formation. The metallicity distribution of
stars in the outer regions of M32 peaks at [Fe/H] & − 0.2 dex and extends to a much lower [Fe/H]. Both
elliptical galaxies met the criteria of a GHZ. In general, many galaxies should support habitable zones.
Received 7 September 2011, accepted 16 January 2012, first published online 16 February 2012

Keywords: Galaxies, Milky Way, M32, M87, Metallicity, Extrasolar Planets, Planet Formation.

Introduction to evolve is based on the particular history of life on Earth. Of

course, we do not know if the timescale for evolution in Earth
The concept of a Galactic Habitable Zone (GHZ) was history is typical of other worlds; evolutionary timescales may
introduced by Gonzalez et al. (2001) to extend the concept of have been much shorter as suggested by McKay (1996).
the habitable zone around a star to the Milky Way galaxy. In Gonzalez et al. (2001) and in the subsequent papers listed
They defined the GHZ as the region in the Milky Way where an above, the probability of planet formation is assumed to scale
Earth-like planet could retain liquid water on its surface and with the metallicity (all elements heavier than H and He) of the
provide a long-term habitat for animal-like aerobic life. There stars. A possible correlation between metallicity of a star and
was further discussion of the concept of a GHZ as applied to the presence of planets was suggested by Gonzalez (1997). This
the Milky Way galaxy by Peña-Cabrera & Durand-Manterola correlation has been confirmed (e.g. Santos et al. 2004; Fischer
(2004), Lineweaver et al. (2004), Ćirković (2005), Sundin & Valenti 2005; Ramírez et al. 2010; Schlaufman & Laughlin
(2006) and Prantzos (2008). The only discussion of a GHZ in 2011), although there have been some debate over the
other galaxies was by Sundin (2006), who considered the GHZ possibility that the correlation is due to pollution of the star’s
in barred galaxies in general and in the bar of the Milky Way atmosphere by planetary accretion (e.g. Pasquini et al. 2007).
galaxy in particular. For low mass stars with small-radius exoplanets, which
There is a key difference between the habitable zone around are of most interest here, the recent Kepler results indicate
a star and the habitable zone of a galaxy. The habitable a true genetic relationship between stellar metallicity and
zone around a star assumes an Earth-sized planet is present the presence of planets (Schlaufman & Laughlin 2011). It is
and determines the surface temperature on that planet. The important to note that the correlation between stellar
questions of planet formation, per se, do not influence the size or metallicity and the presence of planets has been established
location of the habitable zone. However, for the GHZ, the for large planets – as these are the ones most readily detectable
definition is quite different and the process of planet formation with present methods. Thus, it is an unproven extrapolation
is a key part, indeed the key part, of the habitable zone. that the same correlation extends down to Earth size planets.
The radiation environment is also considered to indicate However, it is thought that Jupiter size planets are formed by
habitability for complex life for a long period of time gas accretion onto a rocky core (e.g. Bodenheimer et al. 1980).
(Lineweaver et al. 2004). The consideration of time is somewhat The formation of that rocky core may be similar to the
problematic since the only scale we have for how long life takes formation mode of Earth-sized planets and depend on the

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158 F. Suthar and C. P. McKay

Fig. 1. The metallicity distribution of stars is shown. The triangles represent the metallicity distribution of nearby stars, x’s represent the metallicity
distribution of extrasolar planets hosts stars, squares represent metallicity distribution of M87, and diamonds represent metallicity distribution
of M32.

content of refractory elements. Thus, we expect that the many easily measured absorption lines in the spectra of Sun-
correlation between stellar metallicity and the presence of like stars, and therefore, the term ‘metallicity’ of a star is often
planets will extend to Earth-sized planets as well. expressed in terms of its iron abundance ratio to hydrogen,
With the caveats mentioned above, we believe that the [Fe/H]. The ratio [Fe/H] is defined as
discovery of many planets around nearby stars allows us to [Fe/H] ; log10 (Fe/H)star − log10 (Fe/H)sun ,
statistically relate planet formation to stellar metallicity and
provides a basis for extrapolating the possibility of planet where the bracket denotes the number density abundance of
formation to other regions of our galaxy and to other galaxies. elements enclosed. The units are in dex, 1/10 of a factor
In this paper, we compare the metallicity distribution of the of 10 and [Fe/H] = 0 corresponds to our Sun. Positive values of
nearby stars with the metallicity distribution of the nearby stars [Fe/H] indicate higher than solar values, and negative values
with planets to show the correlation between metallicity and indicate lower than solar values. Following this approach, we
planet formation. We then compare these two distributions to use [Fe/H] as an indicator of metallicity.
the metallicity of the outer stars in two elliptical galaxies, M87 We have obtained [Fe/H] values of 100 nearby stars that are
and M32. uniformly distributed in the torus 6–9 kpc from the galactic
centre (Ibukiyama and Arimoto 2002, Ibukiyama 2004) and
[Fe/H] values of 100 stars with planets using the VizieR
Nearby stars and extrasolar planet host stars
database service at the Centre de Données Astronomiques de
The key factor in defining the GHZ is the probability of planet Strasbourg (vizier.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/VizieR). For additional
formation determined by the observation of stellar metallicity. information on candidate objects, such as distance and
Stellar metallicity is an indication of the total concentration of apparent dimensions, we used NASA/IPAC (National
elements heavier than He. Unlike stellar mass, radius and Aeronautics and Space Administration/Infrared Processing
temperature, metallicity depends directly on the history of the and Analysis Center) Extragalactic Database (NED) (http://
material that goes into forming a star. Heavy elements are ned.ipac.caltech.edu).
produced in stellar interiors and in supernovae. They are then Figure 1 shows the distribution of [Fe/H] of the nearby stars,
distributed by events such as solar winds, supernovae, polar and for stars that have planets. The results have been
jets, planetary nebula and star formation. Thus, the concen- normalized so that the highest value of each distribution is
tration of metals in stars depends on generations of prior stars. roughly similar. Several important points emerge from this
First generation stars would have low metallicity, whereas comparison. First, the distribution of [Fe/H] of nearby stars
stars that form from material that has been through many peaks at the metallicity slightly less than solar, −0.2 dex.
generations of previous stars would have a high metallicity. Although the [Fe/H] of extrasolar planet host stars peaks at a
Metallicity is important for planet formation because in the [Fe/H] value well above the solar value, +0.4 dex, thus, the Sun
hot protoplanetary disc surrounding a star, the formation of maybe a typical star, but it is not a typical planet-hosting star
protoplanetary bodies (small planetesimals) depends exclu- (Ramírez et al. 2010). It may be that we are lucky to be here.
sively on high atomic weight elements since the protoplanetary We can use the [Fe/H] distribution of stars with planets to gage
masses are too small to retain hydrogen or helium. Earth-like the habitability of other galaxies for which [Fe/H] distribution
planets are composed virtually entirely of compounds that are are known.
high in atomic number, Z (silicates) or bound to a high Z atom
(H2O). Thus, it is reasonable that the metallicity should
Elliptical galaxies
correlate with planet formation.
Gonzalez et al. (2001) have noted that the cosmic abundance Elliptical galaxies are of interest here because they represent a
of the elements heavier than boron scale with iron, which has completely different morphology than the Milky Way. For our

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 The galactic habitable zone in elliptical galaxies 159

Fig. 2. Forte et al. (2007) present the metallicity of M87 where the
data are selected from elliptical galactocentric radii between 10 and
15 kpc. The inner region from this radius is affected by the galaxy halo
brightness, while, further out in the galactocentric radius, the
background level increases and the effective areal coverage of the
image decreases.

study, we have chosen two particular elliptical galaxies because

one is an active galaxy whereas the other is a non-active galaxy. Fig. 3. M32. Grillmair et al. (1996) present the data of the region
M87 is a supergiant massive galaxy with an Active Galactic extending from 1 to 2′ (white heavy square line) almost due south of the
Nuclei (AGN) and a Super Massive Black Hole (SMBH). centre of M32. Black outline indicates frame examined by Freedman
AGN are believed to be powered by an accreting SMBH in the (1989), which measures 2.1 by 3.4′ arcsec.
centre of a galaxy and are characterized by non-thermal
emission extending from radio to high energy gamma-rays,
has a considerable fraction of stars with the metallicity at solar
which comes from an accretion disc and from two relativistic
value or slightly below.
jets that are launched close the SMBH (Barkov et al. 2010).
We note that the adopted metallicity distributions charac-
Stellar material near the jet would be blown out by the jet.
terize not individual stars (which are unresolved at such
Therefore, habitability must form in a region away from where
distances) but clusters of stars. We assume that the metallicity
the radiation is least likely to affect the stars. M32 is a compact
values reflect the individual starts. This assumption is
dwarf elliptical galaxy, a satellite of Andromeda galaxy, M31,
approximately valid for the Milky Way, but it is not certain
with low luminosity (Castelli et al. 2008), and its stellar
whether it holds also in other galaxies.
population is younger and more metal-rich at the centre
(Castelli et al. 2008 and references therein).
Figure 1 also shows the metallicity distribution of the stars in Discussion and conclusion
the outer layers of M87 and M32. The metallicity distribution
of M87 has been given with respect to stellar mass, where we In this paper, we have focused on metallicity as the key factor
have transformed the mass statistics into star-number with the in the determination of a GHZ in another galaxy. Previous
assumption that the stellar luminosity functions do not depend discussions have included time, supernovae radiation, impacts
strongly on metallicity (Forte et al. 2007). Figures 2 and 3 show and stellar orbits as important factors (Gonzalez et al. 2001).
the region of M87 and M32 from which this data was Although these factors may be relevant at some level for the
presented. We can see from this figure of M87 that it contains discussion of planets with complex life we believe that they are
a considerable number of stars that have the metallicity values not essential requirements for microbial life. We explain our
consistent with planet formation. In fact, the distribution of reasoning here.
M87 is more favourable for planet formation than the
distribution of nearby stars. The peak of the metallicity Time
histogram occurs at [Fe/H] & − 0.2 and there are a number of It is sometimes assumed that the development of life requires
stars with as high metallicity as [Fe/H] & + 0.4. M32, in habitable conditions for 3.5 billion years. This is, of course, the
contrast, shows the metallicity distribution less favourable for time that has elapsed between the origin of life and the
planetary formation than the nearby stars, where the [Fe/H] emergence of technological civilization on Earth. However, if
peaks at −0.2 ex and extends to a much lower [Fe/H]. But still we are interested in life itself, including microbial life, then the

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160 F. Suthar and C. P. McKay

timescale is much shorter. The earliest indication of life on layers of elliptical galaxies, M87 and M32. From this
Earth may be the carbon isotope record at 3.8 Gyr ago comparison, we conclude that the stars in these elliptical
(Schidlowski 1988; Mojzsis et al. 1996), and clear evidence of galaxies are likely to have planetary systems and could be
microbial life is present at 3.4 Gyr ago (e.g. Tice & Lowe 2004). expected to have the same percentage of Earth-like habitable
Thus, the origin of life occurred within 100–500 Myr after the planets as those in the neighbourhood of the Sun.
formation of Earth, at *3.9 Gyr ago. Moreover, in a review of
this question, Lazcano & Miller (1994) suggested that, ‘in spite
of the many uncertainties involved in the estimates of time for
Acknowledgements
life to arise and evolve to cyanobacteria, we see no compelling
reason to assume that this process, from the beginning of the We thank David Willson and Heather D. Smith for useful
primitive soup to cyanobacteria, took more than 10 million discussions. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their
years’. However, Orgel (1998) criticized this statement on the comments, which greatly improved the paper.
grounds that no relevant data exists: ‘Attempts to circumvent
this essential difficulty are based on misunderstandings of
the nature of the problem’. Although the problem remains
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