![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)
[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 […]
Astrochemistry
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Ring Pattern Reveal The Mechanism By Which Unseen Planets And Dust Particles Gather On Their Own
[Kyushu University] Planetary systems like our solar system are born within a disk of gas and dust (protoplanetary disk) surrounding a newly formed star. Observations with the ALMA telescope have […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Infrared Spectroscopy Of Cyanonaphthalenes Under Interstellar Relevant Conditions And Their Potential Connection With Astronomical Aromatic Infrared Bands
[Astronomy & Astrophysics] Context. Aromatic infrared bands (AIBs) are widely observed in diverse astrophysical environments and are generally attributed to vibrational emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The recent interstellar […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
VUV And mid-UV Photoabsorption Cross Sections Of Thin Films Of Glycine And Alanine: Application To Their Photochemistry In The Solar System
[Photochemistry and Photobiology] Experiments conducted in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) since the 1990s have investigated the evolution of organic matter in solid-phase (including amino acids) under solar photon irradiation to […]
![Full JWST spectrum of HOPS-68. We indicate the molecular absorption bands of oxygen-bearing molecules as studied in this work (SiO, H2O, CO2 and CO) and of carbon-bearing molecules as studied in paper B, as well as the most notable ice and silicate absorption features. Not indicated are 13CCH2, CS, and CH4 in the 7.3-7.8 µm region, and CH3, C4H2 and C6H2 around ∼ 16 µm, which will all be studied in paper B. Some prominent H2 emission lines are highlighted with a black arrow. HOPS-68 is not detected in continuum at wavelengths lower than 2.2 µm. The inset shows a zoom-in to the 7.8-8.6 µm region, which highlights the detection of SiO. -- [astro-ph.SR]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-breath.png?resize=1200%2C558&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
A Breath Of Fresh Air: Oxygen Enhancement From Silicate Sublimation During Early Protostellar Evolution
[astro-ph.SR] Recently, an analog to the t = 0 moment of our Solar System’s meteoritic record was identified for the first time around the Class I protostar HOPS-315.
![Pressures determined by ruby fluorescence measurements at different locations within the sample chamber: (a) during powder compaction, (b) after decompression. No ruby fluorescence spectrum was obtained on the sphere marked with an asterisk, likely due to insufficient Cr doping, resulting in an undetectable fluorescence signal. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Elastic.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inTitan
Elastic Properties of Titan Tholins Revealed by Brillouin Spectroscopy
[astro-ph.EP] Titan tholins, complex organic solids synthesized by simulating photochemical processes in Titan’s atmosphere, are widely regarded as analogs to organic surface materials on the Saturnian moon.
![Planetary Research Program Metrics to Enable a Vital Research Community and Achieve Decadal-Level Science -- [National Academies of Sciences]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Planetary-1.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inReports, Roadmaps, & Plans
Planetary Research Program Metrics to Enable a Vital Research Community and Achieve Decadal-Level Science
[National Academies of Sciences] Help us identify ways that the NASA Planetary Research Program can evaluate the health and effectiveness of its research and analysis program in accomplishing decadal science […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Call For White Papers On Multi-Cycle Treasury Concepts With JWST
[ESA Hubble] STScI has issued a call for White Papers for compelling scientific ideas for Multi-Cycle Treasury (MCT) programmes that require large allocations of JWST time to complete.
![A heterotrophic ecosystem enabled by fermentation on Enceladus. [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Fermentation.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inEnceladus
Fermentation Heterotrophy Can Reproduce Enceladus’s H2 And CH4 Under Limited Serpentinization
[astro-ph.EP] Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is a prime target in the search for life beyond Earth. Abundant H2 and CH4 in Enceladus’s south-polar plume have been shown to be consistent […]
![(Top row:) Composite images on three dates (Table 1) shown with a common display range from -0.01 to 0.02 adu pixel−1 . (Bottom row:) Same images from the top row contoured from 0.0004 adu pixel−1 in steps of 0.002 adu pixel−1 . Contours are smoothed over 8×8 pixel boxes. Yellow arrows show the projected antisolar direction while white arrows show the projected negative heliocentric velocity vector, from Table 1. The two directions are overlapping in the 2023 data. A 1′′ scale is common to all panels.-- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Hubble-Space-.png?resize=1200%2C725&ssl=1)
Posted inComets and Asteroids
Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Active Asteroid (101955) Bennu
[astro-ph.EP] Measurements from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft revealed (101955) Bennu as a member of the active asteroid class.