What is meant by the goldilocks zone?

Answer 1

The definition of the "Goldilocks zone" or "Habitable Zone" from Wikipedia [See Link] is "a region of space where stellar conditions are favorable for life as it is found on Earth".

The habitable zone is not to be confused with the planetary habitability.

The term is derived from the fairy story of Goldilocks and the three bears, where she tries the beds, chairs and porridge and finds only one "Just right".

Some people interpret this as meaning "the only zone (conditions) where life can be found" but this is too limiting. Life forms based on silicon, other chemical reactions etc. may have entirely different Goldilocks Zones

Even on Earth life exists outside of what many users of the term would consider habitable. Animals have been found living in the near boiling waters of hot springs, in deep below freezing waters under the Antarctic ice cap, at the -60oC temperatures of the Antarctic surface, without light in caves, in waters with high concentrations of sulfuric acid, and in the deep sea near "black smokers" or volcanic vents,

Answer 2

It is the area where a planet can be located and neither be too hot or too cold to support life. Earth is in the Sun's Goldilocks zone. For hotter stars, the zone would be farther out to avoid over heating, and for cooler stars the zone would be closer to the star.

Answer 3

The Goldilocks Conditions are a Breathable Atmosphere, Temperature Rate, and Liquid Water. These things are what makes life sustainable on Earth, and why no other planet/planetoids have people or any life form that we know of.

Answer 4

It varies depending on what the definition is concerning habitable.

It's generally accepted that the habitable zone (Goldilocks Zone) is fairly small varying from 0.95 AU minimum distance from the Sun to 1.25 AU from the Sun.

So there is not much leeway in getting closer to the Sun but a lot more going away from the Sun. Depends how cold you like it.

See related link for more information and a pictorial.

Answer 5

In the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, finds a chair, then a bowl of porridge, then a bed which is too hard (or hot), then too cold (or soft) and finally "just right". Some astronomers refer to the "Goldilocks zone" around a star in which the conditions of heat and light might be "just right" for life, specifically Earth-like life, to develop.

By extension, then, a "Goldilocks planet" would be one that is "just right" for human habitation. With any luck, it won't already be occupied by anybody who would shoot back when we land there.

Answer 6

In the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks tested the three bowls of porridge and found that one was too hot, one was too cold, and one was just right.

The "Goldilocks Zone" around a star is the orbital range where the temperature would be not too hot nor too cold for liquid water to exist, but in the range that's "just right" for liquid water to exist.

Answer 7

For those of us on Earrth, the Goldilocks zone is situation where a planet is warm enough to have liquid water but not so hot that the water boils, oxygen, and is protected from solar radiation. In short a place where we and other Terran lifeforms can exist. The conditions are, like the baby bear's porridge, just right. This according to scientists and the popular press are the conditions required for "life". The qualifier is that science means "life such as it exists on Earth" while the popular press and understanding is that they mean "any life at all"If we were a silicon based life with arsenic compounds for blood living in pools of liquid sulphur with a nearby sun pounding us with UV and x-rays, our vision of the Goldilocks zone would be very different.