![First detection of fully deuterated methanol in interstellar space This composite image shows the Perseus molecular cloud, which is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth. A rare form of the organic alcohol methanol has been observed around at least one of the very young stars still embedded within it. This is the first time this molecule has been detected in space, as shared by the ALMA COMPASS Large Program (Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys). Credit: Ekaterina Moerova / MPIfR; Background: NASA, CXC, SSC, NOAO, DSS; and 3D image of methanol fromPubChem [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; 2004-. PubChem Compound Summary for CID 887, Methanol; [cited 2026 July 16]. -- [NRAO]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Exotic.png?resize=1200%2C724&ssl=1)
[NRAO] An international team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a partner (NSF NRAO), has […]
astronomy
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
More Than One Thousand TESS Planets
[NASA Exoplanet Archive] This week’s 70 new planets have unlocked a new exoplanet milestone: 1,000 planets have been discovered with data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)! The new […]
Posted inBrown Dwarfs
First Detection Of Variable Water Clouds Outside Of Our Solar System
[University Of Arizona]. A Jupiter-sized world just 7.5 light-years away is cloudy, chemically complex, and, it turns out, more like home than anyone expected.
![1 and 2-planet detectability thresholds for 4 specific configurations of planet mass and period ratios (close to and outside of resonance). The black grid points represent systems where only a single planet is detectable. Grey points show where both planets are detectable. The red line is a power law fit to the upper black contour, parametrising the 2-planet detection threshold. Similarly, the blue line is a power law fit to the lower contour and parametrises the 1-planet detection threshold. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Detecting-multiple.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
Posted inGaia Mission
Detecting Multiple Planets In Gaia Data Using Bayesian Model Selection
[astro-ph.EP] Gaia will soon provide a census of cold giant planets. However, an astrometric signal contains the superimposed reflex motion of all companions, so planetary signals cannot be treated individually.
![The fitted source and lens system positions as measured in the HST F606W (V −band; blue) and F814W (I−band; red) data. The contours show the 68%, 95%, and 99% confidence intervals for the V and I data, respectively. The measured V −band and I−band position of the (brighter) source star is nearly identical. We detect a weak (∼1.3σ) color-dependent centroid shift at the location of the lens system. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/First-Direct.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
First Direct Identification Of A Multi-Star Microlens System Hosting A Planet
[astro-ph.EP] Nearly 25 years have passed since gravitational microlensing delivered its first exoplanet discoveries.
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
The First Decade of Breakthrough Listen
[astro-ph.IM] Breakthrough Listen (BL), launched in July 2015 with a 10-year, $100M commitment from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, is the most comprehensive search for technosignatures ever conducted.
![The on-sky geometry of the Anti-Solar Point (ASP), the ecliptic, and the synthesized beams of the ATA-ASP campaign. See the pilot paper by Sheikh and Hort et al. 2026 for full detail [1]. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-Technosignature.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
A Technosignature Survey Of The Anti-Solar Point: The SETI Institute’s Largest-Ever Campaign With The Allen Telescope Array
[astro-ph.IM] The ATA-ASP campaign is a radio technosignature survey of the Anti-Solar Point as a “Schelling point”, using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
An Analytic Error-Budget Model for the Habitable Worlds Observatory Coronagraph: From Optical Disturbances to Flux-Ratio Noise
[astro-ph.IM] A coronagraph stability allocation must protect a planet measurement, not merely satisfy a contrast target. Residual starlight both generates photon noise and interferes with small field perturbations, coupling optical […]
![Absolute CSs for the reaction of P+ with C2H2, measured at ECM = 0.14 eV as a function of the photon energy. Products are detected at m/z 56 (HCCP+, orange triangles) and m/z 55 (CCP+, blue circles). From Ephot ≈23 eV an additional product is observed at m/z 26 (C2H2 +, black squares). The vertical dashed black line indicates Ephot value at which CS trends as a function of ECM have been measured. Grey and red arrows indicate the calculated thermodynamic thresholds for production of P+ in ground and excited states, as detailed in the text.-- [astro-ph.SR]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Synthesis.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Synthesis Of Organo-phosphorous Species In Space: The Reaction Of P+ With C2H2
[astro-ph.SR] Despite its low cosmic abundance, phosphorus is a bioessential element whose prebiotic availability and incorporation into biomolecules remain open questions. Only a few phosphorous containing molecules with P to […]
![Moment 0 maps of the molecular lines. (d) rms = 0.005 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (3, 4, 5, 6 σ); (e) rms = 0.0077 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 σ); (f) rms = 0.009 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (5, 7, 9, 11 σ); (g) rms = 0.0039 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (3, 4, 5 σ). Close-up images of each panel are shown below. These regions are indicated by a white dashed square in panel (a). Color scales are adjusted for the close-up ones. The black and white contours are the continuum map same as in the right panel of Figure 1. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-Cyanopolyyne.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
A Cyanopolyyne-rich But COM-poor Massive Protostar: The First Hot Carbon Chain Chemistry Source G28.28-0.36
[astro-ph.GA] We present molecular emission line data from the massive young stellar object (MYSO) G28.28-0.36 (G28.28) obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3. Cyanopolyynes (HC3N and HC5N) and […]