Atmospheres, Climate, Weather Archives

The pebble surface density for scenario 1 (top) and scenario 2 (bottom) is depicted for different α-viscosities, dependent on disk radius and time. In each case, the red vertical line denotes the water-ice line, and the green line marks the position of the gas giant, if present. In the scenario with a gas giant, the accumulation of blocked pebbles exterior to the gas giant’s position is visible. Further accumulations within the water-ice line result from the recondensation of outwardly diffusing gas at different evaporation lines. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Constraining The Formation History Of The HAT-P-11 System By Atmospheric Abundances

by Keith CowingOctober 23, 2023October 20, 2023

The chemical fingerprint of a planet reveals information about its formation history regarding when and where it formed. The water content of a planet can help to constrain its formation […]

Example images of HIP 65426 (top panels) and HD 116084 (bottom panels) before and after bad pixel correction (left and right panels, respectively). The color scale has been stretched so that it ranges from 0 to 1% of the peak counts in each image. Residual striping features are seen in the HD 116084 images, which we discuss in Section 4.1. The pixel size in all images is 65 mas, for a total field of view of 5.2 × 5.2 arcseconds. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems IV: NIRISS Aperture Masking Interferometry Performance and Lessons Learned

by Keith CowingOctober 21, 2023October 19, 2023

We present a performance analysis for the aperture masking interferometry (AMI) mode on board the James Webb Space Telescope Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (JWST/NIRISS).

The positions of the fragments in the (𝑎 − 𝑒) plane that collided with the Sun or one of the rocky planets for different impact velocities and angles (see Table 2). The upper panels depict simulations with 𝜃 = 30◦ while the lower panels for 𝜃 = 45◦ . The colors indicate the fragments colliding with the different celestial bodies, while the initial position of all bodies involved in the 𝑁-body simulation is indicated in grey in the background. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Evolution Of Collision Debris Near The ν6 Secular Resonance And Its Role In The Origin Of Terrestrial Water

by Keith CowingOctober 19, 2023October 19, 2023

This work presents novel findings that broadens our understanding of the amount of water that can be transported to Earth. The key innovation lies in the combined usage of Smoothed […]

Comparison of measured and simulated absorbances of C2H6 (top) and C2H2 (bottom) for a spectral resolution of 0.45 cm-1 in the case of the H2:CH4:N2 gas mixture after 24 hr of irradiation at 473 K. The simulated spectra were obtained following the procedure described in Section 2.2. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Experimental Investigation of the Photochemical Production of Hydrocarbons in Warm Gas Giant Exoplanet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingOctober 19, 2023October 19, 2023

In warm (equilibrium temperature <1000 K) gas giant exoplanet atmospheres, the observation of trace species in abundances deviating from thermochemical equilibrium predictions could be used as an indicator of disequilibrium […]

Transmission spectra of GJ 1132 b from all three data reduction pipelines and both visits. Upper panel: the Eureka! (yellow), FIREFLy (pink), and ExoTiC-JEDI (blue) reductions are shown for both visits at R∼100. Also shown are the differences between reductions (solid, dashed, and dotted gray lines) in units of σ, demonstrating the agreement between pipelines within a single visit. A ±1σ shaded region is overlaid. Bottom panel: the Eureka! reduction for both visits, with the NIRSpec detector gap denoted by the shaded gray region. The shaded yellow regions show two important wavelength ranges that differ the most between the visits (see Sections 4.1 and 4.4.1 for further discussion on these differences). -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Double Trouble: Two Transits of the Super-Earth GJ 1132 b Observed with JWST NIRSpec G395H

by Keith CowingOctober 19, 2023October 19, 2023

The search for rocky planet atmospheres with JWST has focused on planets transiting M dwarfs. Such planets have favorable planet-to-star size ratios, enhancing the amplitude of atmospheric features. Since the […]

𝐼 and 𝑄 Stokes parameters for silicate grains measured at 220 GHz at the South magnetic pole (top) and at the equator (bottom) aligned with respect to the solar radiation field (𝑘-alignment). We note that maps at both values of 𝛼 reproduce the spurious patterns seen in the temperature maps in Fig. 6, being the ones in the 𝛼 = −2.0 due to higher opacities and boundary effects, and the strike patterns seen in the 𝛼 = −3.5 maps only due to statistical fluctuations in the spatial generation of the photon packages, resulting in negligible spatial variations in the 𝐼 and 𝑄 magnitudes. Maps for the South magnetic pole are identical to those of the equator, since both configurations are equivalent. Negative values of 𝑄 are due to the linear polarization along the 𝑌 axis of the image. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Status Report

Polarized Microwave Emission From Space Particles In The Upper Atmosphere Of The Earth

by Keith CowingOctober 17, 2023October 17, 2023

Tons of space particles enter the Earth atmosphere every year, being detected when they produce fireballs, meteor showers, or when they impact the Earth surface.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report

Detecting Microbiology In The Upper Atmosphere: Relative-velocity Filtered Sampling

by Keith CowingOctober 15, 2023October 15, 2023

The purpose of this paper is to re-open from a practical perspective the question of the extent in altitude of the Earth’s biosphere.

The deep-blue sea is turning a touch greener.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Global Biosignatures: Climate Change Lends New Color To Earth’s Ocean

by Keith CowingOctober 14, 2023October 14, 2023

Editor’s note: something to keep in mind as we move towards direct observation of the surfaces and atmospheres of exoplanets. ______

Retrieved spectral feature amplitude, AH, compared to clear, cloudy, and hazy atmosphere models from Morley et al. (2015). For the clear and cloudy models, the dotted lines indicate a 100× Solar metallicity atmosphere, and the dot-dashed lines a 300× Solar atmosphere. All hazy models were calculated at 50× Solar metallicity, the dotted lines are 1% haze precursor conversion, and the dashed lines are 10%. The green open markers, shown for context, are the measured CH4-retrieved AH values for K2-18 b and TOI-270 d. The black open markers, shown for context, are the Kepler-51 planets, which are excluded from the trend analysis due to their exceptionally low densities, and GJ 1214 b, which was found to significantly bias the trend fit due to the extremely precise flatness of its spectrum. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

Clouds and Clarity: Revisiting Atmospheric Feature Trends in Neptune-size Exoplanets

by Keith CowingOctober 13, 2023October 13, 2023

Over the last decade, precise exoplanet transmission spectroscopy has revealed the atmospheres of dozens of exoplanets, driven largely by observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

An Extensively Validated C/H/O/N Chemical Network For Hot Exoplanet Disequilibrium Chemistry

by Keith CowingOctober 13, 2023October 13, 2023

We aimed to build a new and updated C0-C2 chemical network to study the CHON disequilibrium chemistry of warm and hot exoplanet atmospheres that relies on extensively validated and recent […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather

Constraining The Formation History Of The HAT-P-11 System By Atmospheric Abundances

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems IV: NIRISS Aperture Masking Interferometry Performance and Lessons Learned

The Evolution Of Collision Debris Near The ν6 Secular Resonance And Its Role In The Origin Of Terrestrial Water

Experimental Investigation of the Photochemical Production of Hydrocarbons in Warm Gas Giant Exoplanet Atmospheres

Double Trouble: Two Transits of the Super-Earth GJ 1132 b Observed with JWST NIRSpec G395H

Polarized Microwave Emission From Space Particles In The Upper Atmosphere Of The Earth

Detecting Microbiology In The Upper Atmosphere: Relative-velocity Filtered Sampling

Global Biosignatures: Climate Change Lends New Color To Earth’s Ocean

Clouds and Clarity: Revisiting Atmospheric Feature Trends in Neptune-size Exoplanets

An Extensively Validated C/H/O/N Chemical Network For Hot Exoplanet Disequilibrium Chemistry

NASA Comments On The Future Of Astrobiology

AI-Run Growth Chamber Will Test How Plants Develop in Microgravity Against a Matching Experiment on Earth

Perseverance Rover Offers Clues to Protect Crews From Mars Dust

NASA Spaceline Current Awareness List #1,222 23 October 2026 (Space Life Science Research Results)

A Neural-network Model To Find Correlations In Astrochemical Space