| Name: Swathi Raviprakash |
| Affiliation: St Joseph's University |
| Conference ID: ASI2026_536 |
| Title: A comparative habitability study : application to Venus-like worlds |
| Abstract Type: Poster |
| Abstract Category: Sun, Solar System, Exoplanets, and Astrobiology |
| Author(s) and Co-Author(s) with Affiliation: Swathi Raviprakash(St Joseph's University, Bengaluru- 560027, India), Madhu Kashyap Jagadeesh(St Joseph's University, Bengaluru- 560027, India), Margarita Safonova(M.P. Birla Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore- 560001, India), Oleg Kotsyurbenko(NoRCEL Institute, Leeds, United Kingdom) |
| Abstract: The study of exoplanets is a central focus in present research in planetary sciences and astrobiology. The analysis of extensive planetary datasets from missions such as CoRoT, Kepler, and JWST aims to identify Earth analogs and address the question of exoplanetary habitability. The Earth Similarity Index (ESI) and the Mars Similarity Index (MSI) were developed to identify Earth-like and Mars-like exoplanets. Several studies have hypothesized the existence of possible life forms in the upper atmosphere of Venus. For example, phosphine (PH₃) was detected at approximately 20 parts per billion in Venus’s cloud deck using JCMT and ALMA telescopes. PH₃ is considered a potential indicator of microbial activity. This motivated us to develop a new metric for Venus-like exoplanets - Venus Similarity Index (VSI). It is defined as the geometric mean of a planet’s radius, density, escape velocity, and surface temperature, all measured in Venus Units (VU). A VSI of 0 implies that the planet bears no resemblance to Venus, while a value of 1 represents perfect similarity. Currently, Venus is a drastically altered and uninhabitable world. As per climate and dynamical models, early Venus and Earth possessed extremely similar habitability parameters. Building on the VSI framework, we also develop the Ancient Venus Similarity Index (A-VSI) to examine how Venus has evolved in comparison to Earth. The A-VSI is defined complementary to the VSI and also ranges from 0 to 1. We have found 620 rocky planets above the threshold for Mars, which has an A-VSI value of 0.68. Our results found that there are 319 rocky exoplanets with VSI > 0.77 (VSI of Earth), 9 rocky exoplanets with MSI > 0.68 (MSI of Earth) and 78 rocky exoplanets with ESI > 0.73 (ESI of Mars), making these potential habitable worlds in comparison to inner rocky planets of our Solar System. |
