Atmospheres, Climate, Weather Archives

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Driving Action On The Climate Crisis Through Astronomers For Planet Earth And Beyond

by Keith CowingMay 21, 2023November 16, 2024

While an astronomer’s job is typically to look out from Earth, the seriousness of the climate crisis has meant a shift in many astronomers’ focus.

Individual band contributions of OH in NIR retrieved using the completely populated band cross sections for 0 to 3 with a simulated five secondary eclipses, with the plot highlighting the wavelength region with the strongest lines. -- astro-ph.EP

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

A Spectroscopic Thermometer: Individual Vibrational Band Spectroscopy With The Example Of OH In The Atmosphere Of WASP-33b

by Keith CowingMay 19, 2023May 19, 2023

Individual vibrational band spectroscopy presents an opportunity to examine exoplanet atmospheres in detail by distinguishing where the vibrational state populations of molecules differ from the current assumption of a Boltzmann […]

The eclipse spectra of various models run in this study. We show: a suite of atmospheric models that are 1-σ consistent with the observation (top left); bare surface models, which are all consistent with the observation (top right); 100 % CO2 atmospheres models at various surface pressures (bottom left); and models with surface pressures of 0.1 bar, varying the compositions (bottom right). The compositions denote that the first species is the dominant species, with the second species in indicated trace amounts. The binned depths at F1500W and F1280W are shown as markers, as well as each bandpass function weighted by the stellar spectrum. We also show, in dashed lines, the eclipse depths resulting from blackbodies at 509 K (blue) and 400 K (red), corresponding to no redistribution (f = 2/3) and full redistribution (f = 1/4), respectively. On the upper right panel, dashed lines indicate grey albedo surface models. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Constraining the Thickness of the Atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1 b from its JWST Secondary Eclipse Observation

by Keith CowingMay 17, 2023May 17, 2023

Recently, the first JWST measurement of thermal emission from a rocky exoplanet was reported. The inferred dayside brightness temperature of TRAPPIST-1 b at 15 μm is consistent with the planet […]

Orbital period versus a metric of planet atmosphere inflation with real planets plotted. Lines indicate the boundaries where the offset between transmission spectra with and without rotation reach values of 30 ppm, 60 ppm, and 100 ppm. The change in the transmission spectrum due to rotation is strongest towards the lower right. Where the effect of rotation exceeds the 30 ppm limit, the planets are marked with their names. Cycle 1 JWST targets WASP-19 b and WASP-121 b are also marked and highlighted in orange. -- astro-ph.EP

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

Effect of Centrifugal Force on Transmission Spectroscopy of Exoplanet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingMay 17, 2023May 17, 2023

Transmission spectroscopy is one of the most successful methods of learning about exoplanet atmospheres.

LP 791-18 d, illustrated here, is an Earth-size world about 86 light-years away. The gravitational tug from a more massive planet in the system, shown as a blue dot in the background, may result in internal heating and volcanic eruptions on this exoplanet – as much as Jupiter’s moon Io, the most geologically active body in the Solar System. CREDIT NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (KRBwyle)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release

LP 791-18 d: A Terrestrial Exoplanet – With Volcanoes

by Keith CowingMay 17, 2023May 17, 2023

A large international team led by astronomers at the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets at Université de Montréal (UdeM) today announced in the journal Nature the discovery of a […]

Artist's impression of how astronomical forces affect the Earth's motion, climate, and ice sheets. CREDIT NAOJ

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Press Release

Astronomical Forces Control Earth’s Ice Age Cycles

by Keith CowingMay 17, 2023May 17, 2023

A research team, composed of climatologists and an astronomer, have used an improved computer model to reproduce the cycle of ice ages (glacial periods) 1.6 to 1.2 million years ago.

Distribution of chitin utilization genes in marine picocyanobacteria (A) Pathway for chitin degradation (dark blue) and its reactions that overlap (blue) with peptidoglycan metabolic recycling (gray).

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ancestors Of Prochlorococcus Microbes Rode Out To Sea On Exoskeleton Particles

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2023May 11, 2023

Throughout the ocean, billions upon billions of plant-like microbes make up an invisible floating forest. As they drift, the tiny organisms use sunlight to suck up carbon dioxide from the […]

The MIRI spectrum of J160532. The emission lines of benzene, diacetylene and carbon dioxide can be seen as narrow peaks in the spectrum. Acetylene (C2H2) is so abundant that it gives broad humps in the spectrum. Interestingly, there is no water in the disk. (c) JWST/MIRI/Tabone et al.

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Astronomers Spot Benzene In A Planet-forming Disk Around Star J160532 For The First Time

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2023May 11, 2023

An international team of astronomers including several Dutch researchers has observed the benzene molecule (C6H6) in a planet-forming disk around a young star for the first time.

Scientists think that these bands of rocks may have been formed by a very fast, deep river – the first of its kind evidence has been found for on Mars. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this scene at a location nicknamed “Skrinkle Haven” using its Mastcam-Z camera between Feb. 28 and March 9, 2023. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Perseverance Rover Images May Show The Record Of A Wild Martian River

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2023May 11, 2023

Evidence left in rocks is leading scientists to rethink what watery environments looked like on ancient Mars.

Artist’s impression of the exoplanet GJ 1214 b, based on the current results. GJ 1214 b is a warm Mini-Neptune with a perpetual day on one side and eternal night on the other. An unusually reflective haze layer in the upper atmosphere makes it difficult to determine the composition of the sheets below. The planet probably has large amounts of water. © NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Webb Reveals Details About Exoplanet GJ 1214 b, A Mini-Neptune

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2023May 11, 2023

After almost 15 years of futile efforts, an international team of researchers involving the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy has determined some of the atmosphere’s properties of the exoplanet GJ […]