Could life arise on a brown dwarf?

[Chronos]

The recent discovery of a warm super-Jupiter [re: https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=727440] raises tantalizing questions about the prospects of life being found on, or near, such a body. A quick perusal of the literature reveals [unsurprisingly] this possibility has been considered by scientists: http://www.space.com/11268-alien-life-brown-dwarfs-failed-stars.html, http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/spitzer-020705.html

 

[phinds]

Wow. I had no idea such a thing ever happened. Cosmology just gets weirder and weirder

Thanks for posting.

 

[Chronos]

The evidence continues to accrue suggesting abiogenesis is a virtual certainty within our own galaxy. Only a few decades ago, there was considerable debate over the very possibility of planets existing outside our own solar system. That debate has been convincingly settled. Planets are now considered more abundant than stars. Soon thereafter the debate was over the rarity of earthlike planet. Now, it is believed not only are earth-like planets common, but, a surprisingly large number occupy habitable zone orbits. If we find evidence life ever existed on Mars, or elsewhere in the solar system, its game over. I think this would be convincing proof that life is rampant in the universe. An interesting paper for consideration "Bayesian analysis of the astrobiological implications of life's early emergence on Earth", http://arxiv.org/abs/1107.3835.