I’d asked about this a couple of years ago and no one really knew if it were possible, though Chronos seemed doubtful. It turns out that it might not be as bad as he thought.
For decades the conventional wisdom on M dwarfs and habitable planets was “forget it.” The stars are so cool that in order for a planet to have liquid water, the planet would have to be so close to the star that it would become tidally locked. Just as the Moon is tidally locked to the Earth, the planet would have one side constantly in daylight and the other in perpetual night. It was thought that any atmosphere would freeze out on the night side, leaving the dayside completely exposed to radiation from the star. We cannot imagine life existing under those conditions. So, with few exceptions, M dwarf stars were excluded from SETI target lists.
Then in the mid-90’s people began to question the conventional wisdom. Atmospheric models showed that a tidally locked planet could not only retain its atmosphere, but distribute heat uniformly around the surface with a surprisingly modest amount of carbon dioxide. Other studies showed that ozone, a shield against harmful ultraviolet radiation, could be produced without biology on such a planet, making the surface more accommodating to life. Our conception of habitable conditions also expanded as we discovered “extreme life” (extremophiles) in amazing environments here on Earth. From boiling hot springs and deep ocean volcanic vents to frozen Antarctic lakes to the cooling water of nuclear reactors, life thrives in diverse environments. The environment on planets orbiting M dwarf stars may not be as hostile to life as we thought.
Has anyone written Sci-fi based on life on a tide-locked planet?
Across the Sea of Suns has a tide locked planet with life on it, however the climate on that planet is more dynamic than what the linked article seems to describe.
Quartz
July 29, 2005, 10:18pm
4
In the old RPG Traveller 2300AD there’s a tide-locked moon (Aurora?) of a gas giant which has human settlements on it.