Gas Giants Archives

Schematic of some of the key processes throughout planet formation that influence carbon supply and retention. (a) Key ice/grain sublimation fronts in the disk noted (CO2 between water–CO and that of Silicates at inner disk edge not shown). Planets forming in these locations will receive different compositions at birth (Öberg et al. 2011). Dust that grows beyond the “soot” line (Lodders 2004, Kress et al. 2010, Li et al. 2021) will be rich in refractory carbon content and at greater distances molecular ices. (blow-out:) The drift of carbon-rich pebbles from the outer disk is a key process in carbon supply. Drift itself is influenced by pressure bumps that can lead to a pile-up of pebbles that can be potential sites for planetesimal and planet formation (shown on left side of disk). (b) Solids accrete ice mantles, sublimate key components at sublimation fronts and can collide leading to both growth and fragmentation. (c) Rocky planets and cores of gas-rich planets grow and gain carbon through accretion of pebbles (top) and/or planetesimals (bottom). Impacts of larger planetesimals can also strip atmospheric gas and also supply material. (d) heavy element differentiation can take carbon to the core, and the resulting magma ocean/atmosphere equilibrium can influence atmospheric composition with lighter gases escaping depending on the planet mass. Figure credit to N. Fuller and Sayo Studio. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Carbon From Interstellar Clouds To Habitable Worlds

by Keith CowingFebruary 12, 2026February 12, 2026

Carbon is an essential element for a habitable world. Inner (r < 3 au) disk planetary carbon compositions are strongly influenced by supply and survival of carbonaceous solids. Here we […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Science Fiction, Status Report

Finding Endor With Lunar Eclipses — Exomoons And Exorings With The Habitable Worlds Observatory II

by Keith CowingJanuary 29, 2026January 29, 2026

Giant planets in the habitable zone may host exomoons with conditions conducive to life. In this paper we describe a method by which the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) could detect […]

Schematic representation of the microscopic structure of superionic water, in which the oxygen atoms form a solid crystal lattice, while hydrogen ions are virtually free to move within it. With the aid of powerful lasers, this extreme state, which otherwise only occurs inside large planets, could be measured experimentally. (Image: Greg Stewart / SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Press Release

Key To Researching Large Planets: Research Team Discovers Novel Form Of Water

by Keith CowingJanuary 14, 2026January 14, 2026

Temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius and pressures of millions of atmospheres: superionic water only forms under extreme conditions. These conditions transform water into an unusual state in which hydrogen […]

Stability analysis of the TOI-6041 system. The phase space of the system is explored by varying the orbital period Pi and eccentricity ei of each planet independently. For each initial condition (Table 4), the system is integrated over 10 kyr, and a stability criterion is derived with the frequency analysis of the mean longitude. The chaotic diffusion is measured by the variation in the frequencies. The color scale corresponds to the logarithmic variation in the stability index used in (Correia et al. 2010). The red zone corresponds to highly unstable orbits, while the dark blue region can be assumed to be stable on a billion-year timescale. White dashed lines indicate the nominal orbital periods reported in Table 4. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOTEM) Survey.VII. TOI-6041: A Multi-planet System Including A Warm Neptune Exhibiting Strong TTVs

by Keith CowingDecember 28, 2025December 28, 2025

We present the characterization of the TOI-6041 system, a bright (V=9.84±0.03) G7-type star hosting at least two planets.

[LEFT:] A Rare Brown Dwarf: HIP 71618 B [RIGHT:] A New Giant Planet: HIP 54515 b -- W. M. Keck Observatory and the Subaru Telescope.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Discoveries From Maunakea Reveal Hidden Worlds Around Accelerating Stars

by Keith CowingDecember 17, 2025December 17, 2025

Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory and the Subaru Telescope on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island have discovered a massive planet and a brown dwarf orbiting distant stars—two rare companions that deepen […]

Time-lapse footage of a newly discovered exoplanet as it makes its slow journey around two stars. To obtain the image of the planet, astronomers needed to remove the stars' glare. Two star icons mark the locations of where the stars would be in relation to their planet. Credit Jason Wang/Northwestern University

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Science Fiction

Rare Image Of Tatooine-like Planet Is Closest To Its Twin Stars Yet

by Keith CowingDecember 14, 2025December 14, 2025

In a discovery that’s fit for a movie, Northwestern University astronomers have directly imaged a Tatooine-like exoplanet, orbiting two suns.

Normalized torques as a function of planetary mass and semimajor axis, assuming circular and coplanar orbits. The different migration regimes are indicated, separating inward from outward migration. The mass required to open a gap in the disk (dashed white line), the planet-to-star mass ratio (q) of 0.002, and the gas depth criterion K = 104 are over-plotted (dashed black lines). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Status Report

Formation Of Cold Giant Planets Around Late M Dwarfs Via Core Accretion And The Fate Of Inner Rocky Worlds

by Keith CowingDecember 11, 2025December 10, 2025

Modeling the formation of cold giant planets around M dwarfs is difficult because their disks may not contain enough solids to form massive cores and because forming giants are expected […]

Image of HIP 71618 B (indicated by the arrow) taken by the Subaru Telescope. The planet’s host star has been blocked in this image. The star’s position is indicated by the star mark. The high resolution image and the image without text are available from the links. (Credit: T. Currie/Subaru Telescope, UTSA)

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

First Results From The Subaru Telescope’s OASIS Survey: Direct Imaging Of New Worlds Around Unexplored Stars

by Keith CowingDecember 7, 2025December 7, 2025

The discovery of two remarkable substellar companions orbiting distant stars has been announced by an international team of astronomers using the Subaru Telescope’s sharp adaptive-optics imaging together with precision stellar […]

Top: Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) model and 2σ credible regions from ExoTR retrievals on the fiducial reduction, overlaid with data binned at ∆λ = 0.05 µm. Also shown are the contributions from each molecule and clouds to the transmission spectrum. Bottom: 1D histograms of the posterior distributions from the retrieval results, including the median and ±1σ uncertainties (i.e. 16th and 84th percentiles).-- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Status Report

Methane On The Temperate Exo-Saturn TOI-199b

by Keith CowingNovember 28, 2025November 28, 2025

Temperate (Teq<400 K) gas giants represent an unexplored frontier in exoplanet atmospheric spectroscopy. Orbiting a G-type star every ~100 days, the Saturn-mass exoplanet TOI-199 b (Teq=350 K) is one of […]

The three-layer diagram of the outcome of our model.

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Press Release

Efficiency of Hydrodynamic Atmospheric Escape in Hot Jupiters and Super Earths

by Keith CowingNovember 27, 2025November 27, 2025

We develop a flexible one-dimensional code to model the escape of hydrogen and helium from a hot Jupiter as a result of photoionization from extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) radiation.

Gas Giants

Carbon From Interstellar Clouds To Habitable Worlds

Finding Endor With Lunar Eclipses — Exomoons And Exorings With The Habitable Worlds Observatory II

Key To Researching Large Planets: Research Team Discovers Novel Form Of Water

Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOTEM) Survey.VII. TOI-6041: A Multi-planet System Including A Warm Neptune Exhibiting Strong TTVs

Discoveries From Maunakea Reveal Hidden Worlds Around Accelerating Stars

Rare Image Of Tatooine-like Planet Is Closest To Its Twin Stars Yet

Formation Of Cold Giant Planets Around Late M Dwarfs Via Core Accretion And The Fate Of Inner Rocky Worlds

First Results From The Subaru Telescope’s OASIS Survey: Direct Imaging Of New Worlds Around Unexplored Stars

Methane On The Temperate Exo-Saturn TOI-199b

Efficiency of Hydrodynamic Atmospheric Escape in Hot Jupiters and Super Earths

Tricorder Tech: New Handheld Device Maps Chemical Composition Using Infrared Light

No Statistically Significant Evidence For A Correlation Between Stellar And planetary Composition

Water Planet Recon: How Accurately Can We Measure Earth Ocean’s Deepest Point?

Webb Reveals A Stunning Panorama Of Star Formation

Deep Learning of SHERLOC Raman Spectra For Facilitating Mars Astromaterial Identification

American Astronomical Society AAS 249th Meeting

From Gaia to GaiaNIR: Science from Precision Astrometry Across the Universe and Beyond the Extinction Barrier

Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) 2027

The Galactic Journey of the Solar System: Astronomical, Geological, and Paleo-Climatological Perspectives

European Astronomical Society Annual Meeting 2027