The biosignatures of life on Earth do not remain static, but change considerably over the planet’s habitable lifetime. Earth’s future biosphere, much like that of the early Earth, will consist […]
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Posted inAstrochemistry, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Electrostatic Activation of Prebiotic Chemistry in Substellar Atmospheres
Charged dust grains in the atmospheres of exoplanets may play a key role in the formation of prebiotic molecules, necessary to the origin of life. Dust grains submerged in an […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Possible Climates on Terrestrial Exoplanets
What kind of environment may exist on terrestrial planets around other stars? In spite of the lack of direct observations, it may not be premature to speculate on exoplanetary climates, […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
On the Radius of Habitable Planets
The conditions that a planet must fulfill to be habitable are not precisely known. However, it is comparatively easier to define conditions under which a planet is very likely not […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Planet Packing in Circumbinary Systems
The recent discovery of planets orbiting main sequence binaries will provide crucial constraints for theories of binary and planet formation. The formation pathway for these planets is complicated by uncertainties […]
Posted inIcy Worlds, Panspermia
Seeding Life on the Moons of the Outer Planets via Lithopanspermia
Material from the surface of a planet can be ejected into space by a large impact, and could carry primitive life forms with it. We performed n-body simulations of such […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Runaway Greenhouse Effect on Exomoons Due to Irradiation From Hot, Young Giant Planets
The Kepler space telescope has detected transits of objects as small as the Earth’s Moon, and moons as small as 0.2 Earth masses can be detected in the Kepler data […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Detectability of Free Floating Planets in Open Clusters with JWST
Recent observations have shown the presence of extra-solar planets in Galactic open stellar clusters, as in the Praesepe (M44). These systems provide a favorable environment for planetary formation due to […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Origin & Evolution of Life
Modelling the globally-integrated spectral variability of the Archean Earth
The ongoing searches for exoplanetary systems have revealed a wealth of planets with diverse physical properties. Planets even smaller than the Earth have already been detected, and the efforts of […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Characterizing Distant Worlds with Asterodensity Profiling
Eclipsing systems, such as transiting exoplanets, allow one to measure the mean stellar density of the host star under various idealized assumptions. Asterodensity Profiling (AP) compares this density to an […]