Editor’s note: One way to search for habitable – and possibly inhabited – worlds in our solar system and in other star systems is to examine planetary atmospheres for chemical […]
atmosphere
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
Towards 3D Retrieval of Exoplanet Atmospheres: Assessing Thermochemical Equilibrium Estimation Methods
Characterizing exoplanetary atmospheres via Bayesian retrievals requires assuming some chemistry model, such as thermochemical equilibrium or parameterized abundances. The higher-resolution data offered by upcoming telescopes enables more complex chemistry models […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Self-consistent Models of Y Dwarf Atmospheres With Water Clouds And Disequilibrium Chemistry
Y dwarfs are the coolest spectral class of brown dwarf. They have effective temperatures less than 500 K, with the coolest detection as low as ~250 K. Their spectra are […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
A Catalogue Of Exoplanet Atmospheric Retrieval Codes
Exoplanet atmospheric retrieval is a computational technique widely used to infer properties of planetary atmospheres from remote spectroscopic observations.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
A Novel Origin Of Abiotic Oxidants On Early Earth: Minerals
Molecular oxygen (O2) is essential for respiration on today’s Earth, but the early atmosphere was almost devoid of oxygen until the Great Oxidation Event. How then did Earth’s atmosphere become […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
A Biotic Habitable Zone: Impacts Of Adaptation In Biotic Temperature Regulation
The search for biosignatures necessitates developing our understanding of life under different conditions.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Neptune, Status Report
Atmospheres As Windows Into Sub-Neptune Interiors: Coupled Chemistry And Structure Of Hydrogen-Silane-Water Envelopes
Sub-Neptune exoplanets are commonly hypothesized to consist of a silicate-rich magma ocean topped by a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Previous work studying the outgassing of silicate material has demonstrated that such atmosphere-interior […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report
Impact of Changing Stellar and Planetary Magnetic Fields on (Exo)planetary Environments and Atmospheric Mass Loss
The magnetic activity of a star — which modulates the stellar wind outflow — shapes the immediate environments of orbiting planets and induces atmospheric loss thereby impacting their habitability.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Puffy Planets Can Lose Their Atmospheres And Become Super-Earths
If our solar system were a hobbyist kit, it would come boxed up with four rocky terrestrial planets, like Earth; and four gas giant planets like Jupiter.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Robustness Measures For Molecular Detections Using High-Resolution Transmission Spectroscopy Of Exoplanets
Ground-based high-resolution transmission spectroscopy has emerged as a promising technique for detecting chemicals in transiting exoplanetary atmospheres. Despite chemical inferences in several exoplanets and previous robustness studies, a robust and […]