![WASP-39b transmission spectra and cloud scenarios. Spectra are observed with JWST (orange), HST (magenta), and VLT (green) in comparison to models with different Fe content: full IWF Graz cloud model (black line), Fe[s] replaced (dark gray), FeS[s] replaced (middle gray), and all Fe-binding materials replaced (light gray). The Fe-free mixed-material cloud compositions provide a good fit in the near-IR but not in the optical. — astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Exoplanet-climate.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Context. Space missions such as CHEOPS, JWST, and PLATO facilitate detailed characterization of exoplanets, particularly close-in gas giants and their wide range of global temperatures and climate regimes.
Gas Giants
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Press Release
Astronomers Find An Exo-Jupiter, And It Seems To Have Clouds
A team of astronomers led by Elisabeth Matthews at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA) has made a discovery that highlights the limits of most current models of exoplanet […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The Identification of CS2 and Evidence for Carbon-Sulfur Chemical Coupling in a Warm Giant Exoplanet Atmosphere
Transmission spectroscopy with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is revealing growing chemical complexity in giant exoplanet atmospheres. Of particular interest is sulfur, which had essentially no observational constraints before […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Webb Redefines The Dividing Line Between Planets And Stars
Planets, like those in our Solar System, form in a bottom-up process where small bits of rock and ice clump together and grow larger over time. But the heftier the […]
![Artist’s impression of the simulations conducted in this research. Jupiter (lower left) has a strong magnetic field which creates a cavity in its circumplanetary disk. Saturn (upper right) lacks a strong magnetic field so its circumplanetary disk evolves without a cavity. Credit: Yuri I. Fujii/L-INSIGHT [Kyoto University], Illustrator: Shinichiro Kinoshita](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/How-Jupiter-Cultivated.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrogeology, Callisto, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Rhea, Saturn, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
How Jupiter Cultivated More Large Moons Than Saturn
The two largest planets in our Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn, also have the largest satellite systems, or the most moons. At present, Jupiter’s reported moon count stands at more […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Status Report
POSEIDON II: The Anti-Aligned Orbit of the Warm Neptune TOI-1710 A b
We present an observation of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for the warm-Neptune system TOI-1710 obtained with the NEID spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5 m telescope.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Giant Planet TOI-5205 b Orbits A Small Red Star
Massive exoplanet reveals new insights into the formation of planets and their relationship to a host star.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gas Giants, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release
Lightning Bolts On Jupiter Pack More Than 100 Times The Power Of Earth’s Flashes
Jupiter, the most massive planet in our solar system, has correspondingly humongous storms, some of which last for centuries. Some of these storms also generate terrific bolts of lightning, according […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Status Report
Deep Radiative Zones Affect The Planetary Cooling And Internal Structure: Implications For Exoplanet Characterisation
The thermal evolution and interior structure of giant exoplanets are sensitive to the treatment of radiative opacity. At temperatures of ~2000 K, depletion of alkali metals can create a window […]
Posted inBrown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The Coldest Known Y Dwarfs: Estimates of their Effective Temperatures
For a decade there has been a factor of 2.5 gap in luminosity between the 275K WISE J085510.83-071442.5 (Luhman 2014) and all other Y dwarfs, with Teff >= 350K. Recently […]