According to an intriguing study, larger terrestrial planets are preferable to Earth’s current size since a smaller Earth could not have been favourable for the emergence of life.
If so, it could imply that planets up to 10 times as massive as Earth are the norm for the emergence of extraterrestrial sentient life.
Of course, we want to know whether larger or smaller livable terrestrial planets are more common.
Because our detection techniques are now insufficiently sensitive to find smaller planets, we are currently finding big planets. However, this is rapidly changing.
The fact that life may be more likely to arise and/or survive on the larger terrestrial planets than the smaller ones, despite the fact that Earth-sized and larger terrestrial planets are both equally common, may still indicate that alien life will typically come more from the larger terrestrial planets.
Larger terrestrial planets would likely be more capable of supporting life because of their increased geographic activity.
Because they permit complicated chemistry and recycle molecules like carbon dioxide, which works as a thermostat and keeps Earth comfortable, plate tectonics are essential to a planet’s habitability.
A larger planet is more likely to contain the intricate chemistry required for life to develop and would also have a more active recycling system for elements like carbon dioxide, among others, which contributes to a more stable climate overall.
A bigger planet would also likely have a thicker atmosphere, which would provide additional defence against meteor impacts.
A larger, more active terrestrial planet would be better shielded from cosmic radiation if it also had a greater magnetic field.
Such a planet would provide a more secure environment for life to develop, flourish, and last for a longer time.
The following query, to be addressed later (I currently have papers to grade), is how a larger planet might impact the evolution of extraterrestrial intelligent species.
