NASA’s Exposing Microorganisms in the Stratosphere (E-MIST) experiment launched to the Earth’s stratosphere on the exterior of a giant scientific balloon gondola at about 8 a.m. MST on Aug. 24 […]
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Atmospheric dynamics of terrestrial exoplanets over a wide range of orbital and atmospheric parameters
The recent discoveries of terrestrial exoplanets and super Earths extending over a broad range of orbital and physical parameters suggests that these planets will span a wide range of climatic […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Habitable Zones
Nitrogen Isotopic Composition and Density of the Archean Atmosphere
Understanding the atmosphere’s composition during the Archean eon is a fundamental issue to unravel ancient environmental conditions. We show from the analysis of nitrogen and argon isotopes in fluid inclusions […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Aerosol Particles and Planetary Cloud Formation
Scientists recently discovered the source of naturally occurring aerosol particles in Earth’s atmosphere that play an important role in cloud formation. The particles in questions are known as ‘climate-active organic […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Extinction events
Did A Methane Burst Cause the end-Permian Extinction?
The end-Permian extinction is associated with a mysterious disruption to Earth’s carbon cycle. Here we identify causal mechanisms via three observations. First, we show that geochemical signals indicate superexponential growth […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
Newfound Planet Is Earth-mass But Gassy
An international team of astronomers has discovered the first Earth-mass planet that transits, or crosses in front of, its host star. KOI-314c is the lightest planet to have both its […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Snow In An Infant Planetary System
A snow line has been imaged in a far-off infant planetary system for the very first time. The snow line, located in the disc around the Sun-like star TW Hydrae, […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors
Reports Detail Mars Rover Clues to Atmosphere’s Past
A pair of new papers report measurements of the Martian atmosphere’s composition by NASA’s Curiosity rover, providing evidence about loss of much of Mars’ original atmosphere.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Evidence for Iron-Rich Ancient Ocean Changes View of Earth’s Early History
Over the last half-billion years, the ocean mostly has been full of oxygen and teeming with animal life. But earlier, before animals evolved, oxygen was harder to come by. Now […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Press Release
Early Earth May Have Been Prone to Deep Freezes
Two University of Colorado Boulder researchers who have adapted a three-dimensional, general circulation model of Earth’s climate to a time some 2.8 billion years ago when the sun was significantly […]