Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope went looking for evidence of one phenomenon and found quite another. The research team studied the four largest moons of the ice giant Uranus, […]
Ice Giant
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Science Fiction, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Formation Of Habitable Moons Around Giant Planets
Of the few thousand discovered exoplanets, a significant number orbit in the habitable zone of their star.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Diversity Of Exoplanets
This review article delves into the study of low-mass exoplanets: super-Earths, mini-Neptunes and the new categories within and between that we are starting to discover.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Uranus
Using Stellar Occultation To Study The Atmosphere Of Ice Giant Uranus
When a planet’s orbit brings it between Earth and a distant star, it’s more than just a cosmic game of hide and seek. It’s an opportunity for NASA to improve […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Ice Giant, Status Report, Uranus
Uranus Flagship Science-Driven Tour Design: Community Input Poll
The highest priority Planetary Flagship from the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey is the Uranus Orbiter and Probe.
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Monosilane Worlds: Sub-Neptunes with Atmospheres Shaped by Reduced Magma Oceans
High-precision infrared spectroscopic measurements now enable detailed characterization of sub-Neptune atmospheres, potentially providing constraints on their interiors. Motivated by this, atmospheric models have been developed to explore chemical interactions between […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Neptune, People Of Astrobiology, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics
Webb Space Telescope Captures Neptune’s Auroras For First Time
For the first time, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured bright auroral activity on Neptune. Auroras occur when energetic particles, often originating from the Sun, become trapped in a […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights
The ice-giant planet Uranus, which travels around the Sun tipped on its side, is a weird and mysterious world. Now, in an unprecedented study spanning two decades, researchers using NASA’s […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The Radiative Effects of Photochemical Hazes on the Atmospheric Circulation and Phase Curves of Sub-Neptunes
Measuring the atmospheric composition of hazy sub-Neptunes like GJ 1214 b through transmission spectroscopy is difficult because of the degeneracy between mean molecular weight and haziness.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Status Report
Research On Super-Earths And Mini-Neptunes Suggests More Earth-like Planets May Exist
A new study by Rice University researchers Sho Shibata and Andre Izidoro presents a compelling new model for the formation of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes — planets that are 1 to […]