Step aside, skeletons — a new world of biochemical “signatures” found in all kinds of ancient fossils is revealing itself to paleontologists, providing a new avenue for insights into major […]
Biosignatures
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Beyond A Pale Blue Dot: How To Search For Possible Biosignatures on Earth-like Planets
The Earth viewed from outside the Solar system would be identified merely like a pale blue dot, as coined by Carl Sagan. In order to detect possible signatures of the […]
Posted inPress Release, TRAPPIST-1
Distinguishing Between Wet And Dry Atmospheres Of TRAPPIST-1 e and f
The nearby TRAPPIST-1 planetary system is an exciting target for characterizing the atmospheres of terrestrial planets. The planets e, f and g lie in the circumstellar habitable zone and could […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
A Geologically Robust Procedure For Observing Rocky Exoplanets to Ensure that Detection of Atmospheric Oxygen is an Earth-Like Biosignature
In the next decades, the astrobiological community will debate whether the first observations of oxygen in an exoplanet′s atmosphere signifies life, so it is critical to establish procedures now for […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Mineral Dust Increases The Habitability Of Terrestrial Planets But Confounds Biomarker Detection
Identification of habitable planets beyond our solar system is a key goal of current and future space missions. Yet habitability depends not only on the stellar irradiance, but equally on […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
The Effect Of Varying Atmospheric Pressure Upon Habitability And Biosignatures Of Earth-like Planets
Understanding the possible climatic conditions on rocky extrasolar planets, and thereby their potential habitability, is one of the major subjects of exoplanet research. Determining how the climate, as well as […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Confirmation Of Water Emission In The Dayside Spectrum Of The Ultrahot Jupiter WASP-121b
We present four new secondary eclipse observations for the ultrahot Jupiter WASP-121b acquired using the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3. The eclipse depth is measured to a median […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Exoplanet Climate 'Decoder' Aids Search for Life
After examining a dozen types of suns and a roster of planet surfaces, Cornell University astronomers have developed a practical model — an environmental color “decoder” — to tease out […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Biosignature Surveys to Exoplanet Yields and Beyond
Upcoming biosignature searches focus on indirect indicators to infer the presence of life on other worlds. Aside from just signaling the presence of life, however, some biosignatures can contain information […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Molecular Cross Sections for High Resolution Spectroscopy of Super Earths, Warm Neptunes and Hot Jupiters
High resolution spectroscopy (HRS) has been used to detect a number of species in the atmospheres of hot Jupiters. Key to such detections is accurately and precisely modelled spectra for […]