Fast Litho-panspermia in the Habitable Zone of the TRAPPIST-1 System

Abstract

With several short-period, Earth-mass planets in the habitable zone (HZ), the TRAPPIST-1 system potentially allows litho-panspermia to take place on very short timescales. We investigate the efficiency and speed of inter-planetary material transfer resulting from impacts onto the HZ planets. By simulating trajectories of impact ejecta from their moment of ejection until (re-)accretion, we find that transport between the HZ planets is fastest for ejection velocities around and just above planetary escape velocity. At these ejection velocities, ∼10% of the ejected material reaches another HZ planet within 10 2 years, indicating litho-panspermia can be 4–5 orders of magnitude faster in TRAPPIST-1 than in the solar system.