New models challenge the long-standing conclusion about Mimas, an icy satellite of Saturn, being an inactive snowball, suggesting the existence of a young stealth ocean.
The Jupiter-Saturn chaotic excitation (JSCE) scenario proposes that the protoplanetary disk was dynamically excited and depleted beyond ~1-1.5 au in a few Myr, offering a new and plausible explanation for […]
With more than 5,500 detected exoplanets, the search for life is entering a new era. Using life on Earth as our guide, we look beyond green landscapes to expand our […]
![Emblematic direct imaging discoveries (not exhaustive): 2M1207 & AB Pic [24,25], RXJ 1609 [26], κ And [27], HR 8799 [28], β Pic [29], HD 95086 b [30], GJ 504 [31], 51 Eri b [32], HIP 65426 b [33], TYC 8998-760-1 b [34], and b Cen b [35]. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DirectImaging-Of-Exoplanets.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Understanding how giant and terrestrial planets form and evolve, what is their internal structure and that of their atmosphere, represents one of the major challenges of modern astronomy, which is […]
Saturn’s moon Mimas could have grown a huge underground ocean as its orbital eccentricity decreased to its present value and caused its icy shell to melt and thin.
Keith’s note: I was just on a media telecon with Astronaut Loral O’Hara who just returned from 204 days on the International Space Station.
International team co-led by a BSC researcher discovers more than 50 new deep-sea species in one of the most unexplored areas of the planet.
Ice worlds are at the forefront of astrobiological interest because of the evidence of subsurface oceans. Enceladus in particular is unique among the icy moons because there are known vent […]
The subsurface ocean of Europa is a high priority target in the search for extraterrestrial life, but direct investigations are hindered by the presence of a thick, exterior ice shell.
Astrobiology missions to ocean worlds in our solar system must overcome both scientific and technological challenges due to extreme temperature and radiation conditions, long communication times, and limited bandwidth.
