66 million years ago, the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs started the ascent of the mammals, ultimately resulting in humankind’s reign on Earth. Climate scientists now reconstructed how tiny droplets […]
2017
Posted inPress Release, Proxima Centauri
On The Eccentricity of Proxima b
We apply Monte Carlo projection to the radial velocity data set that Anglada Escude et al. (2016) use for the discovery of Proxima b. They find an upper limit to […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
First Detection of Methyl Isocyanate (CH3NCO) in a Solar-type Protostar
We report the first detection of the prebiotic complex organic molecule CH3NCO in a solar-type protostar, IRAS16293-2422 B. This species is one of the most abundant complex organic molecule detected […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
How Complex Cellular Life May Have Emerged
In a new study, published in Nature this week, an international research group led from Uppsala University in Sweden presents the discovery of a group of microbes that provide new […]
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
ESO Signs Agreement with Breakthrough Initiatives: VLT to Search for Planets in Alpha Centauri System
ESO has signed an agreement with the Breakthrough Initiatives to adapt the Very Large Telescope instrumentation in Chile to conduct a search for planets in the nearby star system Alpha […]
Posted inMars, Press Release
Atmospheric Constraints on the Surface UV Environment of Mars at 3.9 Ga Relevant to Prebiotic Chemistry
Recent findings suggest Mars may have been a clement environment for the emergence of life, and may even have compared favorably to Earth in this regard. These findings have revived […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Can Garnet Planets Be Habitable?
What makes a rocky planet Earth-like? Astronomers and geoscientists have joined forces using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to study the mix of elements in exoplanet host […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
The Elements of Life Mapped Across the Milky Way by SDSS/APOGEE
To say “we are stardust” may be a cliché, but it’s an undeniable fact that most of the essential elements of life are made in stars. At today’s American Astronomical […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
Illusion and Reality in the Atmospheres of Exoplanets
The atmospheres of exoplanets reveal all their properties beyond mass, radius, and orbit. Based on bulk densities, we know that exoplanets larger than 1.5 Earth radii must have gaseous envelopes, […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
Glycolaldehyde In Perseus Young Solar Analogs
Aims: In this paper we focus on the occurrence of glycolaldehyde (HCOCH2OH) in young solar analogs by performing the first homogeneous and unbiased study of this molecule in the Class […]