To date, seismological efforts have been limited to terrestrial objects: Earth, the Moon, and soon Mars. All have in common a rigid lithosphere above a solid mantle. The coming years […]
2017
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Press Release
4.4 billion Years Ago Earth was Barren, Flat and Almost Entirely Under Water
ANU scientists say the early Earth was likely to be barren, mountainless and almost entirely under water with a few small islands, following their analysis of tiny mineral grains as […]
Posted inEuropa, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Taking the Pulse of an Ocean World
Jupiter’s moon Europa is definitely an odd place. Discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei, it was first seen in detail only in the late 1970s, after spacecraft visited the Jovian […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
The Surface UV Environment on Planets Orbiting M-Dwarfs: Implications for Prebiotic Chemistry & Need for Experimental Follow-Up
Potentially-habitable planets orbiting M-dwarfs are of intense astrobiological interest because they are the only rocky worlds accessible to biosignature search over the next 10+ years due to a confluence of […]
Posted inPress Release, Titan
Laboratory Analogues Simulating Titan's Atmospheric Aerosols
Two sorts of solid organic samples can be produced in laboratory experiments simulating Titan atmospheric reactivity: grains in the volume and thin films on the reactor walls. We expect that […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
The Galactic Habitable Zone Around M and FGK Stars With Chemical Evolution Models With Dust
The Galactic habitable zone is defined as the region with highly enough metallicity to form planetary systems in which Earth-like planets could be born and might be capable of sustaining […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Transit Detection of a "Starshade" at the Inner Lagrange Point of an Exoplanet
All water-covered rocky planets in the inner habitable zones of solar-type stars will inevitably experience a catastrophic runaway climate due to increasing stellar luminosity and limits to outgoing infrared radiation […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Stellar Cosmic Rays in a Habitable Zone
According to recent observations relative number of flare stars does not change very much from cool dwarfs to hot A stars. Flare energies are strongly correlated with stellar luminosity and […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release, Proxima Centauri
The Full Spectral Radiative Properties of Proxima Centauri
The discovery of Proxima b, a terrestrial temperate planet, presents the opportunity of studying a potentially habitable world in optimal conditions. A key aspect to model its habitability is to […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Habitability of Exoplanetary Systems
The aim of my dissertation is to investigate habitability in extra-Solar Systems. Most of the time, only planets are considered as possible places where extraterrestrial life can emerge and evolve, […]