atmosphere Archives

A selection of the data products that can be generated using 2D-CARMApy.

CARMApy: An Open-Source Python Framework for Simulating Microphysical Clouds in Planetary Atmospheres

by Keith CowingJuly 8, 2026July 7, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] CARMApy is a new open-source python code that performs bin-scheme microphysical modeling of clouds in exoplanet atmospheres.

Surveying the Trade Space with Engineering Architecture Concepts (EACs) From right to left, these are EACs 1, 2, and 3. EAC-1 is a 6m, segmented, off-axis telescope. EAC-2 is the same but uses a round keystone mirror and surrounding segments. EAC-3 is an 8m on-axis telescope with round segments. Each model has an extendable barrel, not pictured here, to protect its primary mirrors from impact damage with micrometeorites. NASA Goddard/Conceptual Image Labs -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes

The Habitable Worlds Observatory Technology Development Plan

by Keith CowingJuly 7, 2026July 7, 2026

[astro-ph.IM] The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is NASA’s next large space telescope, selected by the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics to search for and characterize habitable exoplanets while […]

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Photochemical Production of CS2 in Temperate-to-Warm Gas Giant Exoplanet Atmospheres

by Keith CowingJuly 7, 2026July 7, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Sulfur chemistry has emerged as an important probe of exoplanet atmospheres in the JWST era, although observational constraints have thus far been largely limited to SO2 and H2S in […]

The transmission spectrum of TOI-1231 b. The observed JWST spectrum and retrieved model fits are shown for the fiducial retrieval using the JexoPipe data, considering the six prominent CNO molecules, with a single offset and no stellar heterogeneity, as discussed in Section 3. For visual clarity, the data shown here have been binned to R∼50. A retrieved offset of 79.38 ppm has been added to the NIRSpec data. The dark blue line indicates the median retrieved spectrum, with the shaded regions indicating the 1σ and 2σ uncertainties. The yellow points show the median retrieved spectrum binned at the same resolution as the plotted data. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Transmission Spectrum of the Benchmark Temperate Exo-Neptune TOI-1231 b

by Keith CowingJuly 7, 2026July 7, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] The JWST is revolutionizing our understanding of the temperate sub-Neptune population through atmospheric spectroscopy.

Envelope compositions obtained in this study.

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Planet Formation In Chemically Diverse And Evolving Discs II. Chemical Fingerprints In Planetary Atmospheres

by Keith CowingJuly 6, 2026July 6, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Giant planets form in protoplanetary discs, where the coupled dynamical and chemical evolution of gas and solids determines the composition of the material they accrete. We investigate how planet […]

Artist concept of the gas giant planet WD1856b orbiting a white dwarf star. The planet is 7 times larger than the Earth-sized white dwarf it orbits. WD1856b has methane and hazes in its atmosphere, which would give it a similar colour to Saturn's moon Titan. The white dwarf formed from a star that died 5 billion years ago and has been cooling ever since, giving it an orange colour similar to the sun. Credit NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

How A Giant Planet Survived Its Star’s Death

by Keith CowingJuly 4, 2026July 4, 2026

[Northwestern University] When astronomers discovered a giant planet orbiting a dead star in 2020, they wondered how it survived its star’s violent demise. Now, observations from NASA’s James Webb Space […]

Radial velocities for TOI-1055 (TIC 320004517), with green circles for HARPS03, orange circles for HARPS15 and blue circles for HARPS20. Error bars show observed uncertainties, with lighter extensions indicating the contribution from the 𝜎jit jitter terms added in quadrature. The white noise CW0 (upper panels) and GP CG0 (lower panels) models are shown as the black curve and grey shaded region, representing the median and 68% credible interval of the RV signal from the posterior samples. Both models have circular orbit planets and no trend, differing only in the noise model. The lower panels show residuals relative to each RV model above. The GP model is strongly preferred over the white noise model with log Bayes factor Δ ln Z = 14.4, and has less scatter in the residuals (RMS of 2.05 ms−1 versus 4.99 ms−1). -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets

Improving Exoplanet Mass Characterisation With Bayesian Model Selection Using The Learned Harmonic Mean Estimator

by Keith CowingJuly 4, 2026July 4, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] Radial velocity (RV) analyses require modelling choices (such as eccentricity treatment, noise model, velocity trends, and number of planets) that can significantly affect derived planetary masses.

Left panel: Sketch of the V883 Ori outbursting protostar: the luminosity increase of the central source pushes the snowline outwards (from 80 au in the midplane to 160 au in the disk surface layers), releasing iCOMs in gas-phase at dust temperatures > 100 K. However, the dust continuum optical depth in the inner 40 au screens the emission from complex organics despite their expected high column densities after sublimation (adapted from Lee et al., 2019b). Right panel; ALMA observations towards V883 Ori shows a ring of CH3OH emission, because methanol is observed in the region where 𝑇 > 100 K (i.e. inside the snowline) and where the dust optical depth becomes lower than 1, as shown in the sketch. The lower frequencies covered by the SKAO will allow us to probe iCOMS emission in the innermost 40 au region of these disks thanks to the low dust optical depths at cm wavelengths (adapted from Tobin et al., 2023). -- astro-ph.SR

Astrochemistry

Unveiling Complex Chemistry In Planet-forming Disks With The SKAO

by Keith CowingJuly 4, 2026July 4, 2026

[astro-ph.SR] The chemical composition of planets is inherited from that of the natal protoplanetary disk at the time of planet formation.

Kiel diagram for 290 stars with 5000 K ≤ Teff ≤ 6500 K and log g ≥ 4.0 dex analyzed in this work. The dashed black lines present the solar values obtained for the Ceres 2009-02-08 solar spectrum, Teff = 5759±18 K, log g = 4.43±0.05 dex and [Fe/H] = 0.00±0.01 dex. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry

Chemical Abundances of the Bioessential Elements C, O and S, and the Refractory Elements

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2026July 3, 2026

[astro-ph.EP] We determined atmospheric and evolutionary parameters, along with chemical abundances of C, O, S, Fe, and Ni for 290 solar-type exoplanet hosting stars using high-resolution HARPS-North and HARPS-South spectra, […]

Mars

Martian Dust Storms May Ggenerate Atmospheric Electrical Conditions That Could Impact Mars Missions

by Keith CowingJuly 2, 2026July 2, 2026

[UAH] A new study by a doctoral researcher at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama System, suggests global dust storms on Mars […]

atmosphere

CARMApy: An Open-Source Python Framework for Simulating Microphysical Clouds in Planetary Atmospheres

The Habitable Worlds Observatory Technology Development Plan

Photochemical Production of CS2 in Temperate-to-Warm Gas Giant Exoplanet Atmospheres

Transmission Spectrum of the Benchmark Temperate Exo-Neptune TOI-1231 b

Planet Formation In Chemically Diverse And Evolving Discs II. Chemical Fingerprints In Planetary Atmospheres

How A Giant Planet Survived Its Star’s Death

Improving Exoplanet Mass Characterisation With Bayesian Model Selection Using The Learned Harmonic Mean Estimator

Unveiling Complex Chemistry In Planet-forming Disks With The SKAO

Chemical Abundances of the Bioessential Elements C, O and S, and the Refractory Elements

Martian Dust Storms May Ggenerate Atmospheric Electrical Conditions That Could Impact Mars Missions

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 9 November 2026: Lake Untersee Basecamp Update

Astrochemistry: Hubble and JWST Observe Star Formation in The Carina Nebula

Mapping the Historical Roots of Astrobiology: A Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) Analysis

The Agentic Observer Hackathon: Autonomous Decision-making in Simulated Astronomical Surveys

Tracking The Evolution of sub-Neptunes. I. Gyrochronology of Planet Hosting Stars