The discovery of a possible “super-Earth” less than 20 light-years from our own planet is offering scientists new hope in the hunt for other worlds that could harbor life, according […]
Stellar Cartography
![(a) Normalized age distributions p(τ | [Fe/H]) for single stars, binned in [Fe/H] and smoothed using Gaussian filtering. Each vertical slice is normalized by its peak value. The blue line marks the peak age in each bin. Colored points show planet-hosting stars, classified by guiding-center radius Rg: inner (Rg < 7.2 kpc), local (7.2 ≤ Rg ≤ 9.2 kpc), and outer (Rg > 9.2 kpc). (b) Same as (a), but for [α/Fe] instead of [Fe/H]. -- astro-ph.SR](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Insights-into-Planet-Formation-from.png?resize=1200%2C714&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography
Insights Into Planet Formation From The Ages, Masses, and Elemental Abundances of Host Stars
How planetary systems form and evolve is a key question in astronomy. Revealing how host star properties, such as elemental abundances, age, and mass, differ from those of non-host stars, […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Precise Physical Parameters, Habitability, and Orbital Stability of Sun-like SB2 Systems: HD 130669, HD 184467, HD 191854, and HD 214222
Circumbinary stability curves for the four binary systems HD 130669, HD 184467, HD 191854, and HD 214222. The curves show the critical semimajor axis acr of a stable circumbinary planet […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Stellar Cartography
SOAPv4: A New Step Toward Modeling Stellar Signatures In Exoplanet Research
We present and describe a new version of the spot oscillation and planet code, SOAPv4. Our aim is to demonstrate its capabilities in modeling stellar activity in the context of […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Stellar Cartography
Formation Of Super-Earths Around Low-mass Stars: Evolution Of An Icy Dead Zone
Exoplanet observations show that close-in super-Earths are more common around M-dwarfs than around solar mass stars.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Exploring Stellar Activity In A Sample Of Active M Dwarfs
Most M dwarfs show higher chromospheric activity, often exceeding solar levels. Characterizing stellar activity is essential, particularly since these stars are prime targets in the search for habitable exoplanets.
![Distance versus time distributions for the 49 encounters with β Pic that have an empirical probability of at least 95% of occurring within 2 pc. The coloured points indicate the rescaled Mahalanobis distances (ensuring a common colour scale for all stars) derived from the encounter parameters. Points above the 95th percentile of this metric are shown in grey. The black bars represent the 95% confidence intervals in time and distance, obtained from the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles of the corresponding marginal distributions for the further encounters and using the 95th percentile to define the one-tailed distance interval for the closest ones. The central points are the 50th percentiles. The critical radius of 2 pc is indicated by the red horizontal line. The centres of mass of binary systems, listed in table 4, are marked at the pair [t50, d50] corresponding to that star. -- astro-ph.SR](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/A-Kinematic-History-Of-Stellar.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inBeta Pictoris, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
A Kinematic History Of Stellar Encounters With Beta Pictoris
Beta Pictoris is an A-type star hosting a complex planetary system with two massive gas giants and a prominent debris disk.
![(a) Top panel shows [Eu/α] independent of the temperature bias as a function of [α/H]. Small orange triangles represent data from DM and small green triangles represent data from BB. The cross matched sample of 68 stars described in Section 3.1 is shown in big red squares. Stars from the solar twins analysis by Spina et al. (2018), Bedell et al. (2018) are shown as big blue circles. A black star is used to represent the solar abundance value. The red dashed line at [Eu/α] = 0.06 represents the critical value for an extended dynamo failure given by the model from Nimmo et al. (2020). Outliers in [Eu/H] abundances discussed in Section 6.2 are outlined in black. -- astro-ph.SR](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Distribution-of-Europium.png?resize=1200%2C711&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Interstellar, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Distribution of Europium in The Milky Way Disk; Its Connection to Planetary Habitability and The Source of The R-Process
The energy provided in the radioactive decay of thorium (Th) and uranium (U) isotopes, embedded in planetary mantles, sustains geodynamics important for surface habitability such as the generation of a […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Dynamical Architectures Of S-type Transiting Planets in Binaries II: A Dichotomy in Orbital Alignment of Small Planets in Close Binary Systems
Stellar multiplicity plays a crucial role in shaping planet formation and dynamical evolution. We present a survey of 54 TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs) within 300 pc that exhibit significant […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
General Relativity Can Prevent a Runaway Greenhouse on Potentially Habitable Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs
Planets orbiting in the habitable zones of white dwarfs have recently been proposed as promising targets for biosignature searches.