Analog Studies Archives

Sedimentologic and mineralogic evidence for sedimentary rocks, clay stratigraphy and open-basin deltas along and within the detected shelf. a,b, Polar stereographic projections of the detected shelf showing 14,386 mounds interpreted to have formed by dichotomy retreat, consisting of thick-layered deposits up to 500 m in southern Chryse Planitia, Mars, along with widespread clay-bearing stratigraphy and open-basin deltas. -- Nature

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Evidence For An Ancient Ocean On Mars

by Keith CowingApril 18, 2026April 18, 2026

Caltech researchers have identified geological features on Mars that could point to the existence of a long-dried ocean that once covered a third of the Red Planet’s surface.

Bond albedo (a) and thermal inertia (b) maps derived from PPR measurements in this study. Background is the USGS Europa Voyager Galileo SSI Global Mosaic of Europa (Becker et al. 2010). -- astro-ph.EP

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Thermophysical Properties of Europa’s Surface Constrained by Galileo Photopolarimeter-Radiometer Temperature Measurements

by Keith CowingApril 18, 2026April 18, 2026

Thermal measurements constrain the physical properties of icy satellite surfaces, including grain size, porosity, and regolith structure. On Europa, analyses of the Galileo Photopolarimeter-Radiometer (PPR) dataset revealed thermal inertia heterogeneities, […]

A European Space Agency-funded study used information from satellites to show that Antarctica is experiencing dramatic changes in sea-ice coverage, with profound consequences for key plankton species that underpin the region’s marine food web. About 10 years ago, the amount of sea ice around Antarctica suddenly declined, which resulted in of the Southern Ocean shifting from extremely low phytoplankton levels to more moderate productivity. This image captured by Copernicus Sentinel-2 in 2021 shows a phytoplankton bloom in the Ross Sea. Larger image

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Orbital Biosignature Assay: Antarctica’s Vanishing Sea Ice Transforms Marine Life

by Keith CowingApril 18, 2026April 18, 2026

Editor’s note: when our first missions – human or robotic – arrive at a new world we’ll want to do glean as much information from space – via fly by […]

A patch of Mars imaged by NASA's Viking orbiters in 1976 (left) and ESA's Mars Express orbiter in 2024 (right). The white box outlines a region captured in detail by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA's Mars Express mission in 2024. Larger image -- ESA

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Volcanic Ash Creeps Across Mars – The View From Orbit

by Keith CowingApril 16, 2026April 16, 2026

Noticeable change on Mars often takes millions of years – but the European Space Agency’s Mars Express has captured a blanket of dark ash creeping across the planet in just […]

Rock description, contamination discrimination, and in situ microbial detection. a, b, Core sample under visible (a) and UV light (b), showing a crack (red arrowhead) made with a sterile hammer. Blue fluorescence indicates contamination on the edge. c, Broken surface under UV light showing contamination where blue fluorescence is visible only at the core edge (red arrowhead). d, Thin section (crossed polarizers) displaying orthopyroxene (opx), clinopyroxene (cpx), phlogopite (phl), and quartz. e, Prepared rock section with analytical points (yellow arrows). f–h, Fluorescence microscopy (SYBR Green I) of green regions, with analytical spots marked. i, O-PTIR spectra of the rock (colored squares) compared to control microorganisms (E. coli, N. aerobiophila, and M. sedula). -- biorxiv.org

Analog Studies, Astrochemistry, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Deep Microbial Colonization in 2-Billion-Year-Old Ultramafic Rock from the Bushveld Complex

by Keith CowingApril 16, 2026April 16, 2026

Archean cratons may provide stable microbial habitats in the deep subsurface, as evidenced by the discovery of billion-year-old crustal fluids.

Summary of representative locations in the Arabian Peninsula that could be employed as analog sites for astrobiological studies. Colors denote environment types (green: salt flats, dark blue: deep-sea brine pools, light blue: hydrothermal vent systems, white: snow-covered mountains and deserts, gray: volcanic fields, red: hot springs, and yellow: deserts) -- Extremophiles

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Extreme Arabian Environments And Their Microbiomes: New Frontiers For Astrobiology And Biosignature Discovery

by Keith CowingApril 13, 2026April 13, 2026

Astrobiology assesses the habitability of planetary bodies and the potential for extraterrestrial life.

Graphical Abstract -- Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Microstructural And Biochemical Constraints On Cryptoendolithic Life In Atacama Halite: Implications For Extreme Habitability

by Keith CowingApril 11, 2026April 11, 2026

Halite pinnacles from the Yungay area in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert harbor cryptoendolithic microbial colonies.

Heatmap analysis of bacterial community composition across cave samples at phylum (A) and class (B) levels. A Euclidean dendrogram visualizes the hierarchical clustering of both samples and taxa. -- Microorganisms via PubMed

Analog Studies, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Evaluation Of The Bacterial Diversity In The World’s Deepest Cave—Veryovkina, Arabika Massif, Western Caucasus

by Keith CowingApril 10, 2026April 10, 2026

Veryovkina Cave is the world’s deepest known cave (2212 m deep). It is located in the Arabika Massif of Gagra Mountain in the Western Caucasus. Its microbiome remains unknown because […]

Analog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Goldilocks Problem For Detecting Water In Terrestrial Planets: Constraining Water Abundances In The mid-IR With LIFE

by Keith CowingApril 10, 2026April 10, 2026

We investigate how well the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) mission concept can detect habitable conditions on exoplanets through the presence of atmospheric water vapor as a proxy for surface […]

A) Subcluster of viral genomes within the family Microviridae. Network constructed using vConTACT3 and visualized in Cytoscape. Reference nodes are colored by genus (RefSeq and vConTACT3 predictions), while fumarole viruses are colored by sample site. Edges represent genesharing strength. The blue node (phiX174) forms a weakly resolved clade with fumarole viruses in the maximum-likelihood phylogeny based on major capsid protein amino acid sequences. B) Pairwise genome comparisons of RefSeq and fumarole Microviridae using local alignment (MMseqs2). The top row and left column indicate predicted genus assignments (vConTACT3) for fumarole and RefSeq viruses. The top-left quadrant shows RefSeq–RefSeq comparisons; the top-right shows fumarole–RefSeq comparisons (RefSeq colored by genus). The second row (genome source) is colored by fumarole sample site. The star denotes comparisons involving the phiX174 RefSeq genome. -- biorxiv.org

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Hawaiian Geothermal Fumaroles Contain Diverse and Novel Viruses

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2026April 9, 2026

Microbial communities of geothermal habitats are central to understanding the evolution of life on Earth. Metagenomics has provided insight into the role of viruses in shaping microbial diversity of complex […]

Analog Studies

New Evidence For An Ancient Ocean On Mars

Thermophysical Properties of Europa’s Surface Constrained by Galileo Photopolarimeter-Radiometer Temperature Measurements

Orbital Biosignature Assay: Antarctica’s Vanishing Sea Ice Transforms Marine Life

Volcanic Ash Creeps Across Mars – The View From Orbit

Deep Microbial Colonization in 2-Billion-Year-Old Ultramafic Rock from the Bushveld Complex

Extreme Arabian Environments And Their Microbiomes: New Frontiers For Astrobiology And Biosignature Discovery

Microstructural And Biochemical Constraints On Cryptoendolithic Life In Atacama Halite: Implications For Extreme Habitability

Evaluation Of The Bacterial Diversity In The World’s Deepest Cave—Veryovkina, Arabika Massif, Western Caucasus

The Goldilocks Problem For Detecting Water In Terrestrial Planets: Constraining Water Abundances In The mid-IR With LIFE

Hawaiian Geothermal Fumaroles Contain Diverse and Novel Viruses

A Proposal To Make Mars Sample Return A Collaborative NASA, ESA, And CNSA Effort

Planetary Research Program Metrics to Enable a Vital Research Community and Achieve Decadal-Level Science

NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,220 9 October 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)

Designing Protein Structures From Natural Language

How Long Could Volcanic Plumes Persist In The Venus Atmosphere?