Identifying Habitable-zone Planet Systems Susceptible to Nearby Supernovae

Abstract

We investigate whether any known candidate habitable-zone exoplanet systems could be imperiled by being sufficiently close to a future supernova. Using existing exoplanet databases, we identify 24 stars possessing at least one planet in the star’s habitable zone. We search the Gaia EDR3 catalog for possible core-collapse supernova progenitors within 150 lt-yr of each of these systems, using Pan-STARRS and Gaia EDR3/DR2 colors to identify neighboring stars that are likely to have masses ≥8M ⊙ (i.e., potential supernova Type II progenitors). Within, our sample, we find one instance of a habitable-zone planetary system within 150 lt-yr of a possible Type II supernova progenitor.