Key Points
If they evolved into plants that could survive on land, like Earth plants they would still angle their light-absorbing surfaces toward their star, but they might be purple, red, or orange, depending on the wavelengths of light they are attuned to..
To start, scientists typically focus on the habitable zone around each star, also sometimes called a Goldilocks region because its neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water on a planets surface..
Too cold and it will permanently turn to ice.) Since water is likely necessary for most kinds of life, its an exciting development when astronomers find a rocky world in this zoneor in the case of the TRAPPIST-1 system, multiple worlds...
But University of Georgia astrophysicist Cassandra Hall says perhaps its time to rethink the habitable zone in a way that emphasizes not just water but also light..
In a study earlier this year, Halls group focused on factors like starlight intensity, the planets surface temperature, the density of its atmosphere, and how much energy organisms would need to expend for mere survival, rather than growth..
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