![Schematics of a HAeBe star accreting material from its protoplanetary disc with an ongoing giant planet formation. The giant planet opens a disc gap, preventing the larger dust grains from moving inwards. The HAeBe star has a convective core (red), a radiative envelope (blue), and the stellar photosphere (yellow).-- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/The-refractory.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
[astro-ph.EP] Context. Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for life on Earth and a potential tracer of planet formation history. However, there has been no detection of P-bearing molecules in […]
Astrogeology
Posted inLava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds
Atmosphere Detected On The Coldest Lava World To Date
[University of Chicago] In the search for extraterrestrial life, it makes sense to first look for rocky planets with an atmosphere, like Earth. Without an atmosphere, a planet can’t have […]
Posted inMars
Thermal Anomaly Discovered Below Mars’s South Pole
[Caltech]. Based on gravitational measurements that give clues to the Red Planet’s interior structure, Mars’s interior southern hemisphere is around 200 to 400 degrees Celsius warmer than the northern half […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Iron Helped Scientists Trace Earth’s Oxygen. Now It’s Telling A Bigger Story
[Michigan State University] For decades, scientists have studied iron preserved in ancient rocks to reconstruct how Earth’s oceans and atmosphere became rich in oxygen. A new study suggests iron has […]
Posted inGaia - Planetary Perspectives
Global Carbon Fixation In Earth’s Subsurface Biosphere
[biorxiv.org] The subsurface of our planet hosts 15% of Earth’s biomass and plays a key role in mediating the exchange of volatiles and elements between deep, long-residence-time geological reservoirs and […]
Posted inVenus
Study: Peptides Can Form Well-defined Structures In Harsh, Venus-like Conditions
[MIT] When exploring solar system bodies for signs of past or present life, scientists have mainly focused on planets that have (or had) a liquid surface similar to Earth’s. However, […]
![Figure showing the structure of pure carbon planets ranging from 0.1 to 20 Earth masses with a surface temperature of 300K. Color bar indicates density in g/cm3 . -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Modeling-Carbon.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Modeling Carbon-Based Planets with MAGRATHEA
[astro-ph.EP] A planet’s interior structure not only influences its habitability, but it also provides information about the planet’s formation and history.
Posted inAstrobiology (general)
The SETI Institute And ETH Zurich Join Forces To Search For The Origin Of Life
[SETI Institute]. The question of how life originated and whether it exists elsewhere in the universe has fascinated humanity for centuries. Now, ETH Zurich and the SETI Institute in California […]
![Global Temperature contour maps of Venus with VEX RO serving as the primary reference dataset. The data binning is the same as in Figure 4. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Study-on.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inVenus
Study On The Venusian Atmospheric Thermal Structure: A Comparative Analysis Between VEX/Akatsuki And Venus-GRAM/VCD
[astro-ph.EP] We investigate the thermal structure of the Venusian middle atmosphere between 45 and 80 km using radio occultation (RO) measurements from Venus Express and Akatsuki spanning 2006-2024.
Posted inImaging & Spectroscopy
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Planetary Materials Using Laser Deposited Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles
[x-mol.net] This work demonstrates a surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) approach based on laser deposition of Au plasmonic nanoparticles onto several relevant mineral surfaces. A pulsed 1064 nm wavelength laser is […]