Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography Archives

Poynting flux divergence in (a) the bow shock nose and (b) magnetopause reconnection regions. Simulation with southward IMF orientation, |B|IMF = 30 nT and Pd = 1.2 nPa. Black lines indicate the region of the bow shock (n > 20 cm−3 ), the red lines the exoplanet magnetic field lines and the pink iso-surface the reconnection region in the XZ plane (|B| < 5 nT). -- -astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

MHD Study Of Extreme Space Weather Conditions For Exoplanets With Earth-like Magnetospheres: On Habitability Conditions And Radio-emission

by Keith CowingApril 18, 2023April 27, 2023

The present study aims at characterizing the habitability conditions of exoplanets with an Earth-like magnetosphere inside the habitable zone of M stars and F stars like tau Boo, caused by […]

Column density maps for H2 (top left), H (top right), and O (bottom) from the torus model (Smith et al. 2019, 2022) in a plane through Jupiter and corresponding to the viewing geometry of the first torus-centered exposure le2oa1010 (Table 1) from 2020. For O, the tori of Europa-genic (left) and Io-genic (right) material are shown separately. Jupiter (large black circle) is centered and Io (white, behind Jupiter) and Europa (black) are shown by the smaller disks to the right (west of Jupiter). The densities are higher closer to the moons (here, west of Jupiter) and the HST/COS observations scanned over the densest regions of the Europa-genic neutrals from 8.0 RJ to 12.5 RJ. (Note that the viewing geometry in Figure 1 corresponds to an 1.5-hour earlier exposure). -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Constraints On Europa’s Water Group Torus From HST/COS Observations

by Keith CowingApril 18, 2023April 18, 2023

In-situ plasma measurements as well as remote mapping of energetic neutral atoms around Jupiter provide indirect evidence that an enhancement of neutral gas is present near the orbit of the […]

The sequence of events leading to formation of water, light elements in metal, and increases in oxygen fugacity for Earth’s progenitor embryos in this work. Stage 1 is the embryo where surface temperatures are too high to retain primary atmospheres of hydrogen. Stage 2 is the initial condition for our calculations in which the molten embryos accrete and retain primary atmospheres of H2. Metalsilicate differentiation may have already begun at this stage. Stage 3 is the result of chemical equilibration of the silicate and metal melts with the evolved atmospheres. Annotations show the changes in oxygen fugacity and metal density deficits. Reactions shown are simplifications of the full set, for illustration purposes. Two or more such embryos combine to form the final Earth. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Earth Was Shaped By Primordial Hydrogen Atmospheres

by Keith CowingApril 17, 2023April 17, 2023

Earth’s water, intrinsic oxidation state, and metal core density are fundamental chemical features of our planet. Studies of exoplanets provide a useful context for elucidating the source of these chemical […]

In Search of Hydrothermal Lost Cities expedition

Away Teams & Field Reports, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Hydrothermal Activity Discovered Along The Puy de Folles Vent Field

by Keith CowingApril 17, 2023April 17, 2023

NOAA, Schmidt Ocean Institute, and partners recently embarked on the In Search of Hydrothermal Lost Cities expedition on the Schmidt’s Research Vessel Falkor (too) to locate and observe hydrothermal vent […]

Away Teams & Field Reports, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

JUICE Leaves Earth On An Astrobiology Expedition To Jupiter’s Ocean Moons

by Keith CowingApril 14, 2023April 14, 2023

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 14:14 CEST on 14 April. The successful launch marks the […]

An illustration showing how some Earth’s signature features, such as its abundance of water and its overall oxidized state could potentially be attributable to interactions between the molecular hydrogen atmospheres and magma oceans on the planetary embryos that comprised Earth’s formative years. CREDIT Illustration by Edward Young/UCLA and Katherine Cain/Carnegie Institution for Science.

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How Did Earth Get Its Water?

by Keith CowingApril 12, 2023April 12, 2023

Our planet’s water could have originated from interactions between the hydrogen-rich atmospheres and magma oceans of the planetary embryos that comprised Earth’s formative years, according to new work from Carnegie […]

Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Spotlight On Ganymede, JUICE’s Primary Target

by Keith CowingApril 12, 2023November 17, 2023

A key focus of ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will be Ganymede: Jupiter’s largest moon, and an ideal natural laboratory for studying the icy worlds of the Solar System.

Surface temperature as a function of incoming instellation for different hydrogen-helium inventories. The introduction of layers with convective inhibition when the moisture content at the bottom of the atmosphere (BOA) is high enough (orange region) causes a rapid increase in surface temperature (and moisture content). Once the bottom of the atmosphere is pure steam (pink region), the atmosphere becomes optically thick and increasing surface temperature is no longer linked with an increase in cooling, causing a runaway state. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Runaway Greenhouse Effect on Hycean Worlds

by Keith CowingApril 11, 2023April 11, 2023

Hycean worlds are a proposed subset of sub-Neptune exoplanets with substantial water inventories, liquid surface oceans and extended hydrogen-dominated atmospheres that could be favourable for habitability.

Sonar image of bubble plumes at Pythia’s Oasis. This is a perspective view looking northeast at the bubble plumes rising above Pythia’s Oasis, imaged during a 2018 transect onboard the R/V Revelle using a Kongsberg EM122 multibeam sonar. The hydroacoustic data were filtered using Fledermaus Midwater and reveal gas bubbles rising >500 m into the overlying ocean (image is 2× vertically exaggerated). The bathymetry shown here was collected onboard the R/V Thompson in 2015 and has been gridded at 20-m horizontal resolution.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Pythia’s Oasis Has Warm liquid Spewing From The Seafloor Offering Clues To Earthquake Hazards

by Keith CowingApril 11, 2023April 11, 2023

Editor’s note: Pythia’s Oasis is a newly-discovered seafloor seep off the coast of Oregon featuring water with a unique composition from an exceptionally deep location inside Earth. A varied ecosystem […]

Image of the snailfish alive from 7500-8200m in the Izu-Ogasawara Trench. -- University of Western Australia

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Away Team Discovers Earth’s Deepest Fish

by Keith CowingApril 4, 2023April 4, 2023

Editor’s note: as we explore the extreme depth’s of Earth’s oceans we are also developed the skills we will need to explore the oceans of Europa, Enceladus, Ganymede etc. in […]