Life can Thrive Around Even the Smallest Stars - by BrianKoberlein
Photosynthesis is probably the most important chemical reaction for life on Earth. It is the process plants use to transform sunlight into energy it can use. Through it, plants can produce carbohydrates they can use , generating oxygen as a by-product. Photosynthesis is why Earth’s atmosphere is about 20% oxygen. No photosynthesis, no life on Earth as we know it.
It’s also the reason so many plants are green. Most plants use chlorophyll as part of the photosynthesis process, which reflects green light while absorbing red and blue light through photosynthesis. If you think about it, that’s a bit odd, since the Sun gives off its most intense light in the green range of the spectrum. There is actually a photosynthesis chemical known as retinal which absorbs green and reflects red and blue. If plants used retinal instead of chlorophyll,.
Of course, photosynthesis evolved to take advantage of a bright yellow star that emits most of its light in the visible spectrum. But Sun-like stars make up less than 8% of main sequence stars in our galaxy. Red dwarfs, on the other hand, make up 75% of main sequence stars. Statistically, the vast majority of potentially habitable planets orbit a red dwarf. And red dwarfs are much smaller and cooler than our Sun. Most of the light they emit is in the infrared.
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