Understanding the occurrence of Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars is essential to the search for Earth analogues. Yet a lack of reliable Kepler detections for such […]
astro-ph.EP
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
The KOBE experiment: K-dwarfs Orbited By habitable Exoplanets. Project goals, target selection and stellar characterization
The detection of habitable worlds is one of humanity’s greatest endeavors. So far, astrobiological studies show that one of the most critical components for life development is liquid water. Its […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Density, Not Radius, Separates Rocky And Water-rich Small Planets Orbiting M Dwarf Stars
Exoplanets smaller than Neptune are common around red dwarf stars (M dwarfs), with those that transit their host star constituting the bulk of known temperate worlds amenable for atmospheric characterization. […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Two Temperate Super-Earths Transiting A Nearby Late-type M Dwarf
In the age of JWST, temperate terrestrial exoplanets transiting nearby late-type M dwarfs provide unique opportunities for characterising their atmospheres, as well as searching for biosignature gases. We report here […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Venus
Hot Earth Or Young Venus? A Nearby Transiting Rocky Planet Mystery
Venus and Earth provide an astonishingly different view of the evolution of a rocky planet, raising the question of why these two rocky worlds evolved so differently. The recently discovered […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1
High-Resolution Spectral Models Of TRAPPIST-1e Seen As A Pale Blue Dot For ELT And JWST Observations
Rocky exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zone (HZ) of nearby M dwarfs provide unique opportunities for characterizing their atmospheres and searching for biosignature gases. TRAPPIST-1e, a temperate Earth-sized exoplanet in […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Life On Exoplanets In The Habitable Zone Of M-Dwarfs?
Exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zone around M-dwarf stars have been prime targets in the search for life due to the long lifetimes of the host star, the prominence of […]
Posted inGanymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Global Modelling of Ganymede’s Surface Composition: Near-IR Mapping from VLT/SPHERE
We present maps of Ganymede’s surface composition with almost complete longitude coverage, acquired using high spatial resolution near-infrared (0.95 to 1.65μm) observations from the ground-based VLT/SPHERE instrument. Observed reflectance spectra […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Photobombing Earth 2.0: Diffraction Limit Related Contamination and Uncertainty in Habitable Planet Spectra
Observing habitable exoplanets that may resemble Earth is a key priority in astronomy that is dependent on not only detecting such worlds, but also ascertaining that apparent signatures of habitability […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Plant Biology, Press Release
Linking Common Multispectral Vegetation Indices to Hyperspectral Mixture Models
For decades, agronomists have used remote sensing to monitor key crop parameters like biomass, fractional cover, and plant health. Vegetation indices (VIs) are popular for this purpose, primarily leveraging the […]