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name_NULL111653 t1_j2bx9a1 wrote

Reply to comment by Zen_Badger in Could we find a Pandora-like planet in real life? by lemonny3663

For exomoons, the gas giant does not necessarily have to be in the habitable zone, due to a variety of factors such as tidally induced geological activity. I cite Titan. Imagine if it's subsurface lakes were nitrogen and oxygen (instead of ethane etc.) It would absolutely be habitable by humans, despite the parent planet being far outside our sun's relatively small habitable zone.

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Zen_Badger t1_j2byfue wrote

It would hardly be a tropical paradise as depicted in Avatar tho

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name_NULL111653 t1_j2byoj2 wrote

Agreed. It would be about like Antarctica. But with stronger tidal forces, or (most likely) on a more recently formed moon, it would be possible. Uncommon, but much more likely than a gas giant in the habitable zone.

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