NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is cruising back to Earth with a sample it collected from the rocky surface of asteroid Bennu. When its sample capsule parachutes down into the Utah desert […]
Comets and Asteroids
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
Origin Of Isotopic Diversity Among Carbonaceous Chondrites
Carbonaceous chondrites are some of the most primitive meteorites and derive from planetesimals that formed a few million years after the beginning of the solar system.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Ryugu Asteroid Sample Reveals That It Has A Rich Complement Of Organic Molecules
Asteroid Ryugu has a rich complement of organic molecules, according to a NASA and international team’s initial analysis of a sample from the asteroid’s surface delivered to Earth by Japan’s […]
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Astronomy & Telescopes, Beta Pictoris, Comets and Asteroids, Epsilon Eridani, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Fomalhaut, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Imaging Of Exocomets With Infrared Interferometry
Active comets have been detected in several exoplanetary systems, although so far only indirectly, when the dust or gas in the extended coma has transited in front of the stellar […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Ceres, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
An Unknown Class Of Water-rich Asteroids Has Been Identified
New astronomical measurements in the infrared range have led to the identification of a heretofore unknown class of asteroids
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Jupiter, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Early Water Delivery To Terrestrial Planet Regions During The Stages Of Jupiter’s Formation And Migration In The Grand Tack Model
The formation and subsequent migration of gas giants could significantly affect the material mixing in the Solar System.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Panspermia, Press Release
“Green” Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) Full Of Water And Carbon Compounds
“All comets indeed give evidence … of a lot of bad luck, affliction, peril and danger” wrote German author Thomas Hartmann in 1606, reflecting the fact that for a long […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
James Webb Space Telescope Identifies Origins Of Icy Building Blocks Of Life
Interstellar molecular clouds are considered to be the birth sites of planetary systems.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
NASA Scientists Study Life Origins By Simulating a Cosmic Evolution
Amino acids make up millions of proteins that drive the chemical gears of life, including essential bodily functions in animals.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Components in Chondrites: Search for Processed Materials in Young Solar Systems and Comets
We obtained mid-infrared spectra of chondrules, matrix, CAIs and bulk material from primitive type 1-4 chondrites in order to compare them with the dust material in young, forming solar systems […]