What if we could identify valuable resources on other worlds without ever touching their surfaces? A proposed spacecraft concept could transform how we explore the Solar System by combining remote […]
astrogeology
Posted inTitan
Inspecting A Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer (DRAMS) Transducer
[NASA]. Gabrielle Schweitzer performs a ultraviolet light inspection on a Dragonfly Mass spectrometer (DRAMS) transducer at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt Md., Oct. 20, 2026. Tricorder Tech: Dragonfly Mass Spectrometer […]
Posted inAstrogeology
Extraterrestrial Chemical Boundary Conditions and Evolutionary Opportunity Space on Early Earth
[essopenarchive.org] Extraterrestrial material has often been evaluated as delivered cargo: amino acids, nucleobases, organics, brines, or biological vectors.
Posted inImaging & Spectroscopy
Reconciling Giant Impacts with the Radius Valley: The Role of Silicate-Hydrogen Miscibility for Sub-Neptunes
[astro-ph.EP] Giant impacts are believed to play a major role in the assembly, long-term orbital stability, and resonant structure of exoplanetary systems.
Posted inMars
Well-Preserved Polygons In Elysium Planitia on Mars
[NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona]. Polygons are interesting features on Mars, though sometimes only visible in high resolution images like those taken by HiRISE.
![Mass fraction of planets formed at 140K (top) and 300K (bottom) around Star B in pair 69. The composition of the planet is determined by the relative abundances of the elements the planet accreted. From left to right we change the stellar abundances according to their error bars in table B.2, where “Minus” corresponds to [X/H]−σ, “Normal” to [X/H], and “Plus” to [X/H]+σ. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Diversity.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Diversity Of Planetary Origins And Compositions Traced By Stellar Abundance Differences Of Co-natal Star Systems
[astro-ph.EP] Co-natal stars, wide binaries that form from the same molecular cloud, should harbor the same stellar composition. Observations indicate stellar abundance differences in a small fraction of these co-natal […]
Posted inMars
Advancing Methane Detection Technology For Future Mars Missions
[Canadian Space Agency]. The presence of methane on Mars could provide important clues about the red planet’s past and present, including whether it may once have supported life. By studying […]
![[LEFT] Diagram of a pixel component from a microbolometer array showing the absorbing surface, electrically conducting bridge connecting the absorber to the readout electronics, and the mirrored surface below the absorber. [RIGHT] A digital render of the Enceladus Thermal Mapper instrument. The arrow shows the location of the filter assembly. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Tailoring.png?resize=1200%2C606&ssl=1)
Posted inEnceladus
Tailoring Infra-Red Filters for Global Mapping of Enceladus’ Thermal Environment
[astro-ph.IM]. We present the results of an initial study into the feasibility and design of the Enceladus Thermal Mapper (ETM) instrument, designed to provide detailed temperature data for Enceladus, an […]
Posted inMars
Preparing To Drill At ‘Nazca’ On Mars
[NASA]. Curiosity Blog, Sols 5043-5049: Preparing to Drill at ‘Nazca’ Earth planning date: Friday, Oct. 16, 2026
Posted inAstrogeology
Research Suggests Earth May Have Formed Much Of Its Water As The Planet Grew
[University of New Mexico] Earth may have produced much of its water during the planet’s formation, as rocky pebbles reacted with the hydrogen-rich atmosphere surrounding the young planet, according to […]