Recent transmission spectra of the temperate sub-Neptune K2-18 b obtained with JWST have attracted significant attention. Debates have quickly arisen over the interpretation of the spectral data, particularly the recent […]
Ice Giant
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A New Spin On Planet Formation
Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory on Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, have confirmed a long-predicted relationship between planetary mass and rotation.
Posted inIce Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Neptune’s Obliquity Was Likely Engendered By Triton’s Tidal Evolution
Neptune’s present axial tilt of approximately 28 deg. with respect to its orbital plane can be explained by collisions that its primordial core may have experienced with surrounding planetary embryos […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Elevated Eccentricities In The Radius Valley Hint At Water-Rich Mini-Neptunes
While recent planet-formation models broadly reproduce the observed population of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes, as well as the bimodal radius distribution (the “radius valley”), it remains unclear whether all these planets […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
TESS Planet Occurrence Rates Reveal the Disappearance of the Radius Valley Around Mid-to-Late M Dwarfs
We present the deepest systematic search for planets around mid-to-late M dwarfs to date. We have surveyed 8134 mid-to-late M dwarfs observed by TESS with a custom built pipeline and […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Cryobiology, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Io, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Formation and Survival of Complex Organic Molecules in the Jovian Circumplanetary Disk
Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are key targets in the search for habitability due to the potential presence of subsurface oceans. Detecting complex organic molecules (COMs), essential for prebiotic chemistry, is […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Radius Cliff is a Waterfall: Explaining Sub-Neptune Exoplanets With Steam Worlds
The demographics of Kepler planets provide a key testbed for models of planet formation and evolution, particularly for explaining the radius valley separating super-Earths and sub-Neptunes.
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
TESS Planets In Known Radial Velocity Cold Jupiter Systems: Hot Super Earth Occurrence Is Enhanced By Cold Jupiters
The correlation between inner super-Earths (SEs) and outer cold Jupiters (CJs) provides an important constraint on the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems. Previous studies have suggested a positive […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Press Release, Stellar Cartography
Cheops Discovers Late Bloomer Planet From Another Era
Many Vile Earthlings Munch Jam Sandwiches Under Newspapers and My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos. What sounds like gibberish half-sentences are memory aids taught to children to help […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, 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
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 […]