Evidence for plumes of water on Europa has previously been found using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using two different observing techniques. Roth et al. (2014) found line emission from […]
Astrogeology
Posted inAstrogeology, Press Release
Archaeology in Space: Searching for Life in Rocks
ESA astronauts Pedro Duque and Matthias Maurer have completed geology training to prepare them to be effective partners of planetary scientists and engineers in designing future exploration missions. This third […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Press Release
Formation and Properties of Astrophysical Carbonaceous Dust
The classical theory of grain nucleation suffers from both theoretical and predictive deficiencies. We strive to alleviate these deficiencies in our understanding of dust formation and growth by utilizing an […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology
The Link Between the Local Bubble and Radioisotopic Signatures on Earth
Traces of 2-3 Myr old 60Fe were recently discovered in a manganese crust and in lunar samples. We have found that this signal is extended in time and is present […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Press Release
The Role of Ice Compositions for Snowlines and the C/N/O Ratios in Active Disks
The elemental compositions of planets define their chemistry, and could potentially be used as beacons for their formation location if the elemental gas and grain ratios of planet birth environments, […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Mars, Press Release
Mars Sedimentary Rock Erosion Rates and Organic Matter Preservation
Small-crater counts on Mars light-toned sedimentary rock are often inconsistent with any isochron; these data are usually plotted then ignored. We show (using an 18-HiRISE-image, >10^4 crater dataset) that these […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Mars, Press Release
Yorkshire Salt Mine Could Help Shed Light on Martian Life
A PhD student from the University of Leicester is helping to shed light on life on Mars by exploring similar environments on Earth — including an underground salt mine in […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Life in Ancient Oceans Enabled By Erosion From Land
As scientists continue finding evidence for life in the ocean more than 3 billion years ago, those ancient fossils pose a paradox. Organisms, including the single-celled bacteria living in the […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Earthquakes, Marsquakes, and the Possibility of Life
A new study shows that rocks formed by the grinding together of other rocks during earthquakes are rich in trapped hydrogen — a finding that suggests similar seismic activity on […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Europa’s Ocean May Have An Earthlike Chemical Balance
A new NASA study modeling conditions in the ocean of Jupiter’s moon Europa suggests that the necessary balance of chemical energy for life could exist there, even if the moon […]