![Transmission spectra of TRAPPIST-1 c from the four JWST/NIRSpec PRISM epochs (4-pixel bins, 0.8–5.0 𝜇m), offset vertically by 200 ppm per epoch for clarity and colour-coded by date, with the inverse-variance-weighted mean spectrum (black, plotted at its true depth). Grey bands mark the stellar H2O features near 1.4 and 1.85 𝜇m. The dotted line marks 2.0 𝜇m, the boundary of the region where the contamination is strongest (Section 3). The 2023 November 8 visit contains a flare during transit and the 2024 July 9 visit shows activity outside transit (Section 2.5). -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Detecting.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
[astro-ph.EP] Transmission spectroscopy of rocky exoplanets orbiting late M dwarfs is limited by stellar contamination rather than photon noise.
Astronomy & Telescopes
![The per-tile processing chain, applied to the Detector-4 tile of Fig. 1. (a) After flag masking and zodiacal-light subtraction, the input to the stellar subtraction. (b) After fitting and subtracting the empirical PSF at every catalogued source above the magnitude limit, with the saturated cores of the brightest stars masked. (c) After the median filter and the Gaussian smoothing to 2.6 ′ , which is what is coadded into the HEALPix maps. All three panels share a single histogram-equalised colour scale. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-Full-Sky.png?resize=1200%2C637&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
A Full-Sky SPHEREx Map of Integrated 3.3 And 3.4 μm PAH Emission
[astro-ph.GA] Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium and are among its smallest carbonaceous grains.
![Infrared spectra of pure H2S (blue) and H2O:H2S (10:1) (red) ice mixtures after UV irradiation followed by warm-up to room temperature, measured at 300 K. The residue from the H2S ice does not show any IR absorption band. Functional groups assigned to bands in the H2O:H2S (10:1) residue are indicated at the top; vibrational bands and assignments are also listed in Table 1, along with possible carrier species or chemical families producing those features. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Water-.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Water Enhances The Formation Of Refractory Sulfur In Interstellar Ices
[astro-ph.GA] Sulfur is the tenth most abundant element in space, yet it is strongly depleted in the gas phase of dense interstellar regions, suggesting sequestration in dust grain components that […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Chemical Diversity Of Dense Cores In Orion B: The Role Of The Environment
[Astronomy & Astrophysics] Context. Pre-stellar cores are the sites of the earliest stages of star formation. Dust continuum observations are often used to identify and characterise their properties yet only […]
![Rest-frame equivalent widths of C iii] 𝜆𝜆1907, 1909 (left) and C iv 𝜆𝜆1548, 1550 (right) against the direct 𝑇e-based ([O III]𝜆4363) metallicity. Curves are the star-forming photoionisation grids of Nakajima et al. (2018) at a burst age of 1 Myr and log(𝑛H/cm−3 ) = 3. Solid curves represent the POPSTAR single-star models (Mollá et al. 2009), and dashed curves indicate the BPASS binary models (Eldridge et al. 2017), coloured by ionisation parameter as shown in the colour-bar. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Precise.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Precise C-N-O Abundances of Individual Galaxies In The First Billion Years From Ultra-Deep, Rest-UV-to-Optical JWST Spectroscopy
[astro-ph.GA] We present ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec 𝑅 ∼ 1000 spectroscopy of nine star-forming galaxies at 𝑧 = 6.0 − 8.3 in the GOODSN field, drawn from the Origins of Metal Enrichment […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
The IAC Presents The SELF Telescope In Italy, A Prototype To Advance The Search For Life On Exoplanets
[IAC] The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has presented the progress made on the SELF (Small ExoLife Finder) telescope at the international Charting the Future of Stellar and Exoplanet […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
The Abundance And Emission Of PAHs From The Local To Early Universe
[astro-ph.GA] We present the first large-volume cosmological simulation of galaxy evolution with a model for the abundance and luminous emission of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) across a wide range of […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Modeling The Radiolysis In H2O:HCOOH ice: Connecting Laboratory Experiments With Astronomical Measurements
[RSC Advances] We present a computational study of radiolytic chemistry and desorption dynamics in astrophysical ice composed of H2O:HCOOH (1 : 1), irradiated with Ni11+ ions at 46 MeV and […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
Roman Space Telescope’s Wide Field Instrument Activated – Coronagraph Checked Out
[NASA] NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team has successfully activated the Wide Field Instrument, a 300-megapixel infrared camera that will allow scientists to explore wide swaths of the cosmos […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Nonequilibrium Formation of C4 Carbonyls in Interstellar Ices Linked to Amino Acids
[ACS Central Science] Complex organic molecules in interstellar ices and carbonaceous asteroids record key steps in the chemical evolution toward life, yet the origin of branched carbonyl compounds a fundamental […]