The Galactic Habitable Zone and the Age Distribution of Complex Life in the Milky Way

@article{Lineweaver2004TheGH,
  title={The Galactic Habitable Zone and the Age Distribution of Complex Life in the Milky Way},
  author={Charles H. Lineweaver and Yeshe Fenner and Brad K. Gibson},
  journal={Science},
  year={2004},
  volume={303},
  pages={59 - 62}
}
We modeled the evolution of the Milky Way Galaxy to trace the distribution in space and time of four prerequisites for complex life: the presence of a host star, enough heavy elements to form terrestrial planets, sufficient time for biological evolution, and an environment free of life-extinguishing supernovae. We identified the Galactic habitable zone (GHZ) as an annular region between 7 and 9 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center that widens with time and is composed of stars that formed… Expand
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