A5_2 Living in the Dark

Abstract

A body placed at the second Lagrangian point of many host planets would not experience directly incident solar radiation; however, re-emissions from the host planet would impact the satellite. This paper looks into the time taken for the satellite to reach the temperature required for liquid water. Various host planets are considered and the radius of the satellite varied to examine the effect on the heating time. The paper finds that while a satellite around Earth would provide the longest habitable period, the time frame to reach a suitable temperature is the greatest. A satellite placed around a hot Jupiter would reach habitability the fastest.