'Grandeur in this view of life': N-body simulation models of the Galactic habitable zone

Abstract

We present an isolated Milky-Way-like simulation in the gadget2 N-body smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code. The Galactic disc star formation rate (SFR) surface densities and a stellar mass indicative of the Solar neighbourhood are used as thresholds to model the distribution of stellar mass in life-friendly environments. SFR and stellar component density are calculated by averaging the gadget2 particle properties on a 2D grid mapped on the Galactic plane. The peak values for possibly habitable stellar mass surface density move from 10 to 15 kpc cylindrical galactocentric distance in a 10-Gyr simulated time span. At 10 Gyr, the simulation results imply the following. Stellar particles that have spent almost all of their lifetime in habitable-friendly conditions typically reside at ~16 kpc from the Galactic Centre and are ~3 Gyr old. Stellar particles that have spent ≥90 per cent of their 4-5 Gyr long lifetime in habitable-friendly conditions are also predominantly found in the outskirts of the Galactic disc. Fewer than 1 per cent of these particles can be found at a typical Solar system galactocentric distance of 8-10 kpc. Our results imply that the evolution of an isolated spiral galaxy is likely to result in galactic civilizations emerging at the outskirts of the galactic disc around stellar hosts younger than the Sun.