Abstract
Circumbinary planets may comprise a significant fraction of the
temperate rocky planets in our galaxy. A wide range of previous work has
explored the climate of circumbinary planets with one-dimensional energy
balance models, but studies utilizing three-dimensional general
circulation models (GCMs) have only explored gaseous or ocean-covered
planets. Recent GCM results from Wolf et al. (2020) determine the impact
of the time-varying stellar forcing on the climate of Earth-like
circumbinary planets in a broad range of twelve modeled systems with
stellar spectral types from G2 to M0. The planets modeled are assumed to
have the same continental and oceanic configuration as Earth and receive
the same time-averaged stellar instellation as Earth. In all cases the
climate variability has a low amplitude, with local maximum temperatures
never exceeding the wet bulb threshold for human life. As a result,
Earth-like life could persist on circumbinary planets that undergo
large-amplitude orbital variations in instellation, and such planets
remain viable targets to search for biosignatures and other key
habitability indicators.