Curiosity Blog, Sols 4788-4797: Welcome Back from ConjunctionEarth planning date: Friday, Jan. 30, 2026
2026
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report
The Effects Of Non-ideal Mixing In Planetary Magma Oceans And Atmospheres
Sub-Neptunes with hydrogen-rich envelopes are expected to sustain long-lived magma oceans that continuously exchange volatiles with their overlying atmospheres. Capturing these interactions is key to understanding the chemical evolution and […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
A Chemistry-First Centered Icy Chemical Inventory of Protostellar Sources with JWST
The chemical evolution in star forming regions is driven by the interplay between gas and ice mantles. Identifying the ice compositions at the early stage of star formation thus provides […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Architectures Of Planetary Systems II: Trends With Host Star Mass And Metallicity
The current census of planetary systems displays a wide range of architectures. Extending earlier work, this paper investigates the correlation between our classification framework for these architectures and host stellar […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Broadband Infrared Spectroscopy Of Methanol Isotopologues In pure, H2O-rich, And CO-rich Ice Analogues
Deuterium fractionation is highly efficient during the early stages of star formation, particularly in starless and prestellar cores where temperatures are low (<10 K) and molecular freeze-out onto dust grains […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Life Support Systems, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Space Physiology & Medicine, Space Stations, Tricorders & Sensors
Offworld Life Science: Making Medical Grade Saline In Space
Editor’s note: in addition to biomedical uses for crew health, having the ability to produce sterile solutions – in space – can have additional uses for non-human biological experimentation including […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Astrochemistry: A Gas-phase “Top-down” Chemical Link Between Aldehydes And Alcohols
Alcohols and aldehydes represent two key classes of interstellar complex organic molecules (COMs). This work seeks to better understand their possible chemical connections, with a focus on such molecules in […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Beta Pictoris, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Visual Inspection Of Potential Exocomet Transits Identified Through Machine Learning And Statistical Methods
In this work, we explore several ways to detect possible exocomet transits in the TESS (The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) light curves. The first one has been presented in our […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Slowing Planetary Rotation Influences Ocean Nutrient Cycling And Oxygenation
Marine habitability for complex life on Earth and Earth-like planets requires bioavailable nutrients and dissolved oxygen. The cycling of nutrients and oxygen is controlled by physical ocean circulation.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Atom Addition Formation of Thionylimide (HNSO) on Interstellar Dust Grains: Chemical Routes Requiring Oxygen And Nitrogen Atom Surface Diffusion
We investigate the formation of the recently detected HNSO molecule using quantum chemical calculations on ices and astrochemical models in tandem.