The JWST just scored another first: a detailed molecular and chemical portrait of a distant world’s skies.
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Proxima Centauri, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Traveling Planetary-scale Waves Cause Cloud Variability On Tidally Locked Aquaplanets
Cloud cover at the planetary limb of water-rich Earth-like planets is likely to weaken chemical signatures in transmission spectra, impeding attempts to characterize these atmospheres.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Venus
Massive Volcanism May Have Altered Ancient Venus’ Climate
Volcanic activity lasting hundreds to thousands of centuries and erupting massive amounts of material may have helped transform Venus from a temperate and wet world to the acidic hothouse it […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors, Venus
Tricorder Tech: Venus Life Finder Habitability Mission: Motivation, Science Objectives, And Instrumentation
For over half a century, scientists have contemplated the potential existence of life within the clouds of Venus. Unknown chemistry leaves open the possibility that certain regions of the Venusian […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Early Release Science Of The Exoplanet WASP-39b With JWST NIRSpec PRISM
Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanets has revealed signatures of water vapor, aerosols, and alkali metals in a few dozen exoplanet atmospheres.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Early Release Science Of The Exoplanet WASP-39b With JWST NIRSpec G395H
Measuring the abundances of carbon and oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres is considered a crucial avenue for unlocking the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Early Release Science Of The Exoplanet WASP-39b With JWST NIRCam
Measuring the metallicity and carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio in exoplanet atmospheres is a fundamental step towards constraining the dominant chemical processes at work and, if in equilibrium, revealing planet formation histories.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Early Release Science Of The Exoplanet WASP-39b With JWST NIRISS
Transmission spectroscopy provides insight into the atmospheric properties and consequently the formation history, physics, and chemistry of transiting exoplanets. However, obtaining precise inferences of atmospheric properties from transmission spectra requires […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Hazy With A Chance Of Star Spots: Constraining The Atmosphere Of The Young Planet, K2-33b
Although all-sky surveys have led to the discovery of dozens of young planets, little is known about their atmospheres. Here, we present multi-wavelength transit data for the super Neptune-sized exoplanet, […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Mars, Press Release
Martian Dust Storms Churn Up Earth-like Clouds
Earth and Mars have vastly different atmospheres. The dry, cold atmosphere of Mars is composed almost entirely of carbon dioxide while Earth’s is rich in nitrogen and oxygen. Its atmospheric […]