The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will provide the first opportunity to directly image and spectrally characterize terrestrial exoplanets in the habitable zones of nearby stars.
Astronomy & Telescopes
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
HERMES: HiERarchical Modelling for Exoplanet Science
ESA’s Ariel Space Mission will characterise the atmospheres of approximately 1000 exoplanets to quantify population-level trends.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Characterizing Transiting Exoplanet Atmospheres in the 2030s with the Hubble Space Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope inaugurated the era of exoplanet atmospheric characterization. While the James Webb Space Telescope has largely taken up the mantle of infrared atmospheric characterization, Hubble’s unique short-wavelength […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures
SETI Institute Looks for Signs of Technology in Interstellar Visitor 3I/ATLAS
Scientists at the SETI Institute searched for technological signals from 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object observed in our Solar System.
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
First Ever Live Observation Of The Rotation Of A Planetary Nursery
The rotation of a protoplanetary disc (a disc where planets are being formed) has been observed directly for the very first time by mapping the emissions from the dust grains […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Predictive Rankings of the Probability for Temperate Terrestrial Worlds for the HWO ExEP Mission Star List
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is NASA’s flagship mission design from the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020, meant to observe temperate terrestrial planets via direct imaging and use […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Acenaphthene Derivatives As Signatures Of C11H9 Reactivity With Methylated Naphthalenes
C11H+9 ion is the dominant fragment cation formed from methyl-naphthalene (MeNp) and dimethyl-naphthalene (diMeNp).
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
The Pan-Pacific Planet Search — IX. A Menagerie Of Companions Orbiting Evolved Stars
We present resolutions as to the nature of six speculative candidate companions proposed in the final data release of the Pan-Pacific Planet Search, a 6-year radial-velocity survey of 164 southern […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Ca-bearing Cyanopolyynes in IRC+10216
In recent years, a number of metal-containing, carbon-chain species have been detected in the external circumstellar envelope of the carbon-rich AGB star IRC+10216.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Sample Return, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report
Some Thoughts on the Future of Technosignature Searches: Constraining the Fermi Paradox
This paper examines how future technosignature searches may constrain competing resolutions of the Fermi Paradox, with particular attention to the possibility that technologically capable entities (TCEs) are either intrinsically rare […]