Gaia - Planetary Perspectives Archives - Page 10 of 36

Surface flux density observed and modelled. The m2F12-37-2.5 (dark green) and cF13-500-3 (light green) stellar atmosphere models are plotted at coefficients Xˆ 1=1 and Xˆ 2 = 1 (the theoretical assumption of the entire stellar surface exhibiting flaring activity). For AU Mic during a flare, the red solid and orange dashed lines show the fitted model spectrum at flare maximum using coefficients from the example fit (the flare data are stated in Table A.1 in Appendix A.2). The inverse H6 model at flare maximum, pre-flare and the ‘fiducial flare’ model from Loyd et al. (2018a) with a comparable ED is plotted as blue dash-dotted, light blue dashed, and purple dashed lines, respectively. Blackbody curves for 3850 K, 6000 K, 8000 K, and 10,000 K are included in black solid, dotted, dash-dotted and dashed lines. The panchromatic AU Mic flux from Feinstein et al. (2022) is plotted in light grey. Insets highlight the FUV (lower left) and TESS (lower right) wavelength ranges. -- astro-ph.SR

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics

Young M Dwarfs Flare Activity Model: Towards Better Exoplanetary Atmospheric Characterisation

by Keith CowingDecember 8, 2025December 8, 2025

Context. Stellar flares can significantly influence the atmospheres and habitability of orbiting exoplanets, especially around young and active M dwarfs. Understanding the temporally and spectrally resolved activity of such stars […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A First Order Filter For The Detection of Potentially Habitable Exoplanets

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2025December 3, 2025

The search for potentially habitable exoplanets is a primary objective in modern astrophysics, yet the vast number of candidates discovered by missions like Kepler and TESS presents a significant challenge […]

An example of a simulated spectrum for a Proterozoic Earth–like planet, in which no single feature dominates but absorption from numerous molecules is visible, including O2 and O3. The N2O features (shown in brown) appear at multiple wavelengths beyond 1 μm. Source: Tokadjian et al. (2024); image used unchanged under the CC BY 4.0 license. -- Science Direct

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

Current Opinions And Trends In The Search For Extrasolar Photosynthesis

by Keith CowingDecember 3, 2025December 3, 2025

The search for extrasolar photosynthetic life is one of the most important goals for modern astrobiology. Recent discoveries of cold brown dwarfs, as well as planets orbiting M-, G-, K-, […]

Chignik, Sol 680 "Hydrated" class Al203 ~ 17-29 wt.% -- NASA

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Findings Suggest The Mars Was Warmer And Wetter Millions Of Years Ago

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2025December 2, 2025

Rocks that stood out as light-colored dots on the reddish-orange surface of Mars now are the latest evidence that areas of the small planet may have once supported wet oases […]

Alkaline limited regime (left) leads to slow climate recovery. Reef space collapse (right) stimulates nannoplankton productivity and climate recovery. Credit: Tristan Salles/PNAS/USYD

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Coral Reefs Have Stabilized Earth’s Carbon Cycle For The Past 250 Million Years

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2025December 2, 2025

Coral reefs have long been celebrated as biodiversity hotspots – but new research shows they have also played a much deeper role: conducting the rhythm of Earth’s carbon and climate […]

Cores of lava breccia, cemented with white calcium carbonate minerals, recovered from IODP Site U1557 Credit IODP JRSO

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return

Ancient Rocks Reveal Themselves As Carbon Sponges

by Keith CowingDecember 1, 2025December 1, 2025

Sixty-million-year-old rock samples from deep under the ocean have revealed how huge amounts of carbon dioxide are stored for millennia in piles of lava rubble that accumulate on the seafloor.

We live in a microbial world. -- Sustainable Microbiology

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Why Conserving The Invisible 99% Of Life On Our Home World Is Fundamental To Planetary Health

by Keith CowingNovember 21, 2025November 21, 2025

A new paper outlines how scientists came together to put together the first microbial conservation roadmap under the leadership of Applied Microbiology International President, Professor Jack Gilbert.

Tree of life (“species tree”) used for gene reconciliation analyses, showing reconstructed habitats for specific phyla over time. Phyla are color-coded and grouped to match to the larger phylum groups used for habitat reconstructions (see Methods). Outer ring shows habitat designations for all leaves of the species tree. Pie charts superimposed on internal nodes indicate the habitat reconstruction results of all organisms in the phylum (including additional genomes not represented in the species tree), with each wedge representing the probability that the internal node resided in a terrestrial (grey), shallow marine (light blue) or deep marine (dark blue) habitat. Habitat reconstruction results were based on much larger trees within each phylum (beyond those shown on the tree), so habitat reconstruction results were superimposed onto this tree for visualization purposes. -- biorxiv.org

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Time-resolved Phylogenomics Analysis Reveals Patterns In Biosphere Nutrient Limitation Through Earth History

by Keith CowingNovember 18, 2025November 18, 2025

The co-evolution of life and Earth has profoundly transformed global biogeochemical cycles over the past 3.5 billion years.

Neural networks help map ocean colour -- ESA (larger image)

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

AI World Model To Simulate The Earth System

by Keith CowingNovember 13, 2025November 13, 2025

Climate change is already reshaping global weather patterns and ecosystems around the world. In the long-term, its consequences could range from further substantial increases in the number of extreme weather […]

Nicholas Ray, assistant professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delawarew, was part of a National Science Foundation research coordination network that released a paper focused on nitrogen fixation in freshwater and coastal ecosystems. Here, he conducts the lab work for one method of measuring sediment-water N2 fluxes (including N-fixation). Credit Photos courtesy of Nicholas Ray/ University of Delaware

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Small Aquatic Systems Found To Fix 15% Of Earth’s Nitrogen

by Keith CowingNovember 9, 2025November 9, 2025

Nitrogen is vital for all known life. Yet most nitrogen on Earth is in the atmosphere as di-nitrogen gas, which many organisms can’t use. Fortunately, there are microbes that can […]