The atmospheres within our Solar System can be categorized into four distinct climate regimes: “terrestrial”, “Jovian”, “condensable”, and “exosphere”.
Pluto
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Pluto, Status Report
Detection Of Carbon Dioxide And Hydrogen Peroxide On The Stratified Surface Of Charon With JWST
Charon, Pluto’s largest moon, has been extensively studied, with research focusing on its primitive composition and changes due to radiation and photolysis.
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Astrogeology, Beta Pictoris, Ceres, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto, Proxima Centauri, Saturn, Status Report, tau Ceti, TRAPPIST-1, Uranus, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Classifications For Exoplanet and Exoplanetary Systems
When a star is described as a spectral class G2V, we know its approximate mass, temperature, age, and size. At more than 5,700 exoplanets discovered, it is a natural developmental […]
Posted inIcy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Twin Worlds, Divergent Fates: How Obliquity has Differently Shaped Pluto’s and Triton’s Landscapes and Climates
Triton and Pluto are believed to share a common origin, both forming initially in the Kuiper Belt but Triton being later captured by Neptune. Both objects display similar sizes, densities, […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Impact events, Jupiter, Pluto, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Gigantic Asteroid Impact Shifted The Axis Of Ganymede
Around 4 billion years ago, an asteroid hit the Jupiter moon Ganymede. Now, a Kobe University researcher realized that the Solar System’s biggest moon’s axis has shifted as a result […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Pluto, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Triton and Pluto: Same Origin But Separated At Birth [Two Possible Ocean Worlds]
Assessing the origin of Pluto and Triton has profound implications for the bigger picture of Solar System formation and evolution.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Pluto, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Peering Into Pluto’s Ocean
An ocean of liquid water deep beneath the icy surface of Pluto is coming into focus thanks to new calculations by Alex Nguyen, a graduate student in earth, environmental and […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Pluto, Press Release
Astrogeology/Astrochemistry/Astrobiology Update: New Horizons Detects Dusty Hints Of An Extended Kuiper Belt
New observations from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft hint that the Kuiper Belt – the vast, distant outer zone of our solar system populated by hundreds of thousands of icy, rocky […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Pluto, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Moderate D/H Ratios in Methane Ice on Eris and Makemake as Evidence of Hydrothermal or Metamorphic Processes in Their Interiors: Geochemical Analysis
Dwarf planets Eris and Makemake have surfaces bearing methane ice of unknown origin. D/H ratios were recently determined from James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of Eris and Makemake, giving […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Icy Worlds, Pluto, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Surface Volatile Composition as Evidence for Hydrothermal Processes Lasting Longer in Triton’s Interior Than Pluto’s
Ocean worlds, or icy bodies in the outer solar system that have or once had subsurface liquid water oceans, are among the most compelling topics of astrobiology. Typically, confirming the […]