Atmospheres, Climate, Weather Archives

Schematics of the MELTYQ coupled magma-atmosphere retrieval. The model is valid for sub-Neptune hosting a thick H2-rich atmosphere with enough surface temperature to melt rocks. The model splits the planet in three regions: a rocky core, a deep atmosphere, and an upper atmosphere. The chemistry is coupled allowing to retrieve the composition of the rocky magma via it’s influence on the observable atmosphere. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

Coupling Magma-ocean And Atmospheres In Spectral Retrievals Of Sub-Neptunes

by Keith CowingMay 14, 2026May 14, 2026

Recent high-precision atmospheric observations with JWST is enabling detailed characterization of sub-Neptune atmospheres and motivating efforts to understand and constrain their interiors.

Schematic summary of the surface temperature response to increasing pN2 on the pCO2 –pN2 plane, comparing Goldblatt et al. (2009, G+09), Wordsworth & Pierrehumbert (2013, WP13), and this work. For Goldblatt et al. (2009), the pink shaded region denotes the parameter range they explored, within which all cases show warming as pN2 increases. For Wordsworth & Pierrehumbert (2013), circles mark the parameter sets shown in their Figure 14a, and the annotation at the top summarizes their reported response. Circle size and color qualitatively indicate the surface temperature, with larger circles and warmer colors corresponding to higher temperatures. In Wordsworth & Pierrehumbert (2013), the sign of the response is inferred from the two data points connected by arrows, which indicate the direction of increasing pN2 . Background shading shows the approximate regimes obtained in this work, namely cooling, warming, and neutral surface-temperature response to increasing pN2. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Revisiting the Greenhouse Effect of Non-greenhouse Gases in the Atmospheres of Earth-like Planets

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

Although non-greenhouse gases can vary substantially in abundance in Earth-like atmospheres, their climatic influences remain insufficiently understood.

Comparison of (left) absolute and (right) normalized mineral and artificial reflectance spectra with the photosynthetic red edge. Spectra on the right were vectornormalized here to facilitate visualization of spectral features rather than overall reflectance. All spectra were also subjected to Gaussian smoothing with standard deviation 3. (a) sulfide mineral spectra from Table 1 (database source: stibnite, ECOSTRESS | chalcopyrite, ECOSTRESS | cinnabar, USGS | realgar, ECOSTRESS) alongside the green leaf spectrum used to model the VRE/PRE; (b) silicate mineral spectra from Table 1 (database source: lazurite, USGS | sodalite, ECOSTRESS | zircon, ECOSTRESS | nontronite, ECOSTRESS) -- astro-ph.EP

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

Mineral False Positives in the Search for Exoplanet Surface Biosignatures

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

In the search for life in the cosmos, biopigments on exoplanet surfaces are a critical target.

Bright milky blue ribbons of water are visible along the coast along with patches of brown and green in some areas. Colorful waters swirl off the Mid-Atlantic coast in an image captured by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA's Aqua satellite on May 3, 2026. NASA Earth Observatory/Michala Garrison Larger image

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Plant Biology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Orbital Biosignature Assay: Phytoplankton Bloom Off The U.S. Mid-Atlantic Coast

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

Editor’s note: As we begin to study worlds in our own solar system that might have life we use our home world as a testbed for the various ways to […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Clue For The Hen And Egg Question: The Simultaneous Formation Of Uracil And Amino Acids Under Simulated Hadean Conditions

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

The origin of life is commonly discussed within two competing conceptual frameworks: the metabolism-first and information-first hypotheses. While each emphasizes a different defining property of early life, modern biochemistry reveals […]

Kp – Vsys maps for species which we claim a detection or a tentative detection in HAT-P-70b’s atmosphere with 2 transits from the MAROON-X spectrograph. White dashed lines indicate the expected position of the signal, assuming a symmetric planet with a static atmosphere. Peaks of the cross-correlation function are shown as white regions near the expected position. The peaks show a slight offset in Vsys, indicative of the presence of strong winds in the atmosphere. The standard deviation is calculated with from a box delimited by Vsys = −100 km s−1 and Vsys = 0 km s−1 -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

HAT-P-70b Through The Eyes of MAROON-X: Constraining Elemental Abundances of Metals and Insights on Atmosphere Dynamics

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

Ultra-hot Jupiters (UHJs) are exceptional laboratories for studying planetary atmospheres under extreme irradiation conditions.

TOP Ice states for HEXTOR calculations based on the THAI Hab 1 configuration, which show smooth transitions from ice-covered to cool dayside to warm dayside to ice-free states as instellation increases. These results do not depend on the choice of initialization temperature. BOTTOM Ice states for HEXTOR calculations based on the THAI Hab 1 configuration, across a parameter space of instellation and CO2 partial pressure. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Exploring TRAPPIST-1 Climate States With An Energy Balance Model

by Keith CowingMay 12, 2026May 12, 2026

This paper presents a version of the HEXTOR energy balance model that has been configured for the study of habitable terrestrial planets orbiting low-mass stars. The model is validated for […]

Snowball Earth -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return

A New Explanation For Snowball Earth

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2026May 11, 2026

A new study by Earth scientists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) offers an explanation for one of Earth’s great climate puzzles: how […]

Analog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Active Responses Of Cyanobacterial Crusts Directly Exposed To The Extreme Stratospheric Environment

by Keith CowingMay 11, 2026May 11, 2026

The stratosphere’s highly hostile environment offers a unique and relatively accessible setting to evaluate extremophilic adaptation for extraterrestrial colonization. The accelerating pace of the Martian project has underscored the need […]

Cloud discontinuity observed on the Venusian nightside lower clouds at a wavelength of 2.26 μm by Akatsuki IR2. Clouds appear as silhouettes illuminated from below, with dark areas indicating thicker clouds. The images were taken at (a) 15:33-UTC on August 18 and (b) 22:03-UTC on 27 August 2016. -- Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Venus

Venus’ Atmosphere Jumps And Waves

by Keith CowingMay 10, 2026May 10, 2026

The mysterious origin of an impressive cloud disturbance on Venus has now been revealed by a team including the University of Tokyo. Researchers used numerical models to show that an […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather

Coupling Magma-ocean And Atmospheres In Spectral Retrievals Of Sub-Neptunes

Revisiting the Greenhouse Effect of Non-greenhouse Gases in the Atmospheres of Earth-like Planets

Mineral False Positives in the Search for Exoplanet Surface Biosignatures

A Clue For The Hen And Egg Question: The Simultaneous Formation Of Uracil And Amino Acids Under Simulated Hadean Conditions

HAT-P-70b Through The Eyes of MAROON-X: Constraining Elemental Abundances of Metals and Insights on Atmosphere Dynamics

Exploring TRAPPIST-1 Climate States With An Energy Balance Model

A New Explanation For Snowball Earth

Active Responses Of Cyanobacterial Crusts Directly Exposed To The Extreme Stratospheric Environment

Venus’ Atmosphere Jumps And Waves

Potential Survivable Niches For Microbial Life On The Lunar South Pole

JWST Telemetry Combined With Active Coronagraphy: Raw Contrast Predictions For Exoplanet Imaging With The Habitable Worlds Observatory

Antarctica Is Home To Microbes Found Nowhere Else On Earth

Study: Peptides Can Form Well-defined Structures In Harsh, Venus-like Conditions

Modeling Carbon-Based Planets with MAGRATHEA