[Utrecht University] The end-Triassic mass extinction, 201 million years ago, is linked to volcanism that resulted from the break-up of Pangea and which pumped out vast amounts of CO2 into […]
Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Underwater Oxygen Loss Threatens Earth’s Stability, Researchers Warn
[UCSD] A new review paper led by scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the rapid loss of oxygen from the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Fire And Ice: Were Yellowstone’s Past Volcanic Eruptions And Glaciations Related?
[USGS/Yellowstone Volcano Observatory] Yellowstone is a land of fire and ice. Not only does it have a history of different styles of volcanic eruptions, but it has also been covered […]
Posted inComets and Asteroids
The Polana-Eulalia Complex with JWST NIRSpec: Connections to Bennu, Ryugu, and Outer Solar System Bodies
[astro-ph.EP] Carbon rich [C complex] asteroids provide insight into the early Solar System, and families of C complex asteroids serve as robust samples for learning about the internal structure of […]
![Numerical computations corresponding to the candidate pattern in the H–alpha filter (λ0 = 656 nm), for the total flux (left) and the polarized flux (right). The background polarization signal has been subtracted from the latter. The decrease in spatial resolution due to the Earth’s atmosphere is not included. The planetary atmosphere is assumed to be horizontally homogeneous except for the gas density variations. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Planet-wide.png?resize=1200%2C711&ssl=1)
Posted inVenus
Planet-wide, Concentric Density Waves in Venus’s Upper Atmosphere Revealed through Polarimetry?
[astro-ph.EP] We report observations of faint (10−6), concentric, planet-wide rings in the polarized flux of sunlight that is reflected by Venus, obtained during a serendipitous, 36-minute run in 2010, with […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Efficient Interstellar Grain Growth From High Sticking Coefficients On Amorphous Carbon Dust
[astro-ph.GA] Cosmic dust is the solid phase of the interstellar medium (ISM), classically assumed to be composed of carbonaceous and silicate grains with size distributions spanning ∼5 Å to ∼1 […]
Posted inImpact events
Researchers Identify Class Of Oddball Meteorite That Killed Earth’s Dinosaurs
[University of British Columbia] A rare CO chondrite meteorite was the probable impactor that struck Earth 66 million years ago, wiping out 75 per cent of Earth’s species, including non-avian […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Mineral Biosignature Identification From Raman Spectroscopy Using Machine Learning
[PNAS] Biosignature detection remains a key challenge in astrobiology, yet robust mineral biosignatures remain limited. Raman spectroscopy is increasingly applied in planetary exploration, but its high-dimensional spectral information has not […]
![Planet growth and migration tracks for the formation of WASP-19 b starting from different initial orbital locations. Solid parts of the tracks indicate the pebble-accretion phase before the planet reached pebble isolation mass, while dotted parts indicate the subsequent gas-accretion phase. Different symbols indicate different disc viscosities (α = 10−3 , 5 × 10−4 , and 10−4 ). The colour of each track represents the resulting atmospheric C/O ratio of the planet. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/The-majority.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
The Majority Of Hot Jupiters Formed Beyond The Water Ice Line
[astro-ph.EP] Atmospheric compositions of giant exoplanets can retain information about their formation environments, as volatile species condense at different temperatures in protoplanetary discs.
Posted inHabitable Zones
The Expected Yield Of Venus Zone Terrestrial Planets From PLATO
[astro-ph.EP] The characterization of terrestrial exoplanets and the conditions that lead to divergent climate outcomes is a primary goal of exoplanetary science.