Warm Saturn type exoplanets orbiting M-dwarfs are particularly suitable for in-depth cloud characterisation through transmission spectroscopy due to their favourable stellar to planetary radius contrast.
Saturn
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Saturn, Status Report, Titan, Uranus
Sulfur in the Giant Planets, their Moons, and Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets
We review sulfur chemistry of the gas giant planets and their moons where sulfur compounds are observed. The major S-bearing gas in the upper atmospheres of the giant planets is […]
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 inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Photochemical PHO Network For Hydrogen-dominated Exoplanet Atmospheres
Due to the detection of phosphine PH3 in the Solar System gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, PH3 has long been suggested to be detectable in exosolar substellar atmospheres too. However, […]
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 inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mimas, Saturn, Status Report, Tethys, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Evolution Of A Young Ocean Within Mimas
The fractured, young surfaces on confirmed ocean worlds such as Europa and Enceladus suggest that ocean-bearing moons with relatively thin overlying ice shells should be easy to identify. Hence, the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Saturn, Status Report, Titan
Titan’s Rocks Of Ice – An Interview with Christopher McKay
Huygens sent back only one picture from the surface of Titan. Some people ask, “Are there any more pictures?” They’re used to the Mars rovers, where every day you get […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Jupiter, Saturn, Status Report
The Solar System Could Have Formed in a Low-viscosity Disc: A Dynamical Study From Giant Planet Migration to the Nice Model
In the context of low-viscosity protoplanetary discs (PPDs), the formation scenarios of the Solar System should be revisited. In particular, the Jupiter-Saturn pair has been shown to lock in the […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Saturn, Status Report
A Pole-to-Pole Map Of Hydrocarbons In Saturn’s Upper Stratosphere And Mesosphere
We analyze data from the final two years of the Cassini mission to retrieve the distributions of methane, ethane, acetylene, ethylene, and benzene in Saturn’s upper stratosphere and mesosphere from […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mimas, Saturn, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Evidence And Concerns About A Latent, Embryonic Phase Tectonic Evolution And The Existence Of The Young Subsurface Ocean On Mimas
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.