![Integrated intensity maps of the 1.7 mm continuum, 183 GHz water line, and three methanol lines in the HD 100546 (top row) and IRS 48 (bottom row) disks. White contours highlight the inner dust ring of HD 100546 and the asymmetric mm-crescent of IRS 48 from their continuum maps, pink contours show 3, 4, and 5σ levels. The white ellipse in the bottom left of each panel shows the beam.-- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/An-ALMA.png?resize=1200%2C697&ssl=1)
[astro-ph.EP] Water and methanol are the fundamental constituents of interstellar and cometary ices: understanding their abundances in disks is therefore of high importance to reveal how this ice reservoir evolves […]
Keith Cowing
Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻
![Sky positions of the TESS M&M sample (shown in a full-sky Mollweide projection), with number of single-sector TESS light curves through Year 6 as colorbar. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/The-Occurrence.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inEuropa
The Occurrence of Circumbinary Planets Around TESS M-dwarf Eclipsing Binaries
[astro-ph.EP] We present the first determination of the occurrence of transiting circumbinary planets (CBPs) in TESS data. Since tight binaries represent a constrained environment relative to single stars, CBPs contribute […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Experimental Astrochemistry And Machine Learning Unravel The Formation Of Oxygen-bearing Organic Molecules In Extraterrestrial Ices
[Nature Communications Chemistry] Oxygen-bearing organic molecules, including aldehydes, alcohols, and peroxides, serve as key precursors to complex organics in extraterrestrial environments. Their non-equilibrium formation mechanisms critically constrain the molecular complexity […]
![From interstellar molecules to biomolecules. [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Frontiers.png?resize=1200%2C701&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Frontiers Of Chemical Complexity In The Interstellar Medium: Unveiling The Cosmic Origins Of life
[astro-ph.IM] The interstellar medium (ISM) contains a rich molecular inventory that provides a unique window into the chemistry operating during star and planet formation and its connection to prebiotic chemistry.
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
WALTzER: Wide-band Atmospheric Laboratory For Transiting Exoplanet Research
[astro-ph.EP] Understanding the origin and evolution of planetary atmospheres, and the connection between their lower and upper atmospheric layers, remains a fundamental challenge in exoplanet science.
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
Beyond The Beacon: State And Corporate Competition After An Information-Rich Technosignature Detection
[astro-ph.IM] The 2026 update to the Declaration of Principles Concerning the Conduct of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence provides a framework for post-detection practice.
Posted inMars
Ancient Endorheic Lake Basins: Promising Sampling Sites for the Tianwen-3 Mars Sample Return Mission
[Astrobiology (Journal) via PubMed]. The China National Space Administration has announced its Mars Sample Return mission Tianwen-3 to search for life on Mars.
Posted inImpact events
Impact Crater Hydrothermal Systems Support Rapid Microbial Enrichment and Diverse Metabolic Potential
[Geobiology ] Impact crater hydrothermal systems, formed after asteroid and comet impacts, have been proposed as promising habitats for life on early Earth and as key targets in the search […]
![Relative emissivity spectrum of 2P/Encke’s nucleus obtained by the COMICS observations, in comparison with that of 460P/PanSTARRS (T. Ootsubo et al. 2021). The spectrum of 460P/PanSTARRS (in grey) is shifted by 0.1 for the readability. The grey hatched area is the wavelength region influenced by the telluric ozone absorption. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Photometric.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inComets and Asteroids
Photometric and Spectroscopic Observations of Comet 2P/Encke’s Nucleus in the Mid-Infrared Wavelength Region
[astro-ph.EP] We observed comet 2P/Encke with the Cooled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer (COMICS) on the Subaru telescope on UT 2003 November 12.3, when the comet was at heliocentric and geocentric […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
A New Method Maps An Exoplanet’s True Shape
[Cornell] Mathematical models have necessarily reduced distant exoplanets to idealized circles – until now.