CHina Archives

JWST Cycle 6 Call for Proposals Policy Update [China]

by Keith CowingAugust 25, 2026August 25, 2026

[NASA / STSCI] Proposals involving only investigators based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) or involving only PRC-based and U.S. investigators are subject to the NASA restriction on bilateral […]

Mars

Zhurong Mars Rover Observations Primary Evaporite In Southern Utopia Planitia

by Keith CowingAugust 18, 2026August 19, 2026

[Nature] The Zhurong rover has identified a layer consisting of platy rocks enriched in hydrous minerals on a ~0.76-Ga surface in southern Utopia Planitia, indicating unexpected recent aqueous activity on […]

Scatter plots of potential candidate in frequency, drift rate and signal-to-noise ratio for total intensity and four polarization channels. The color and the size for each point represent the value of SNR in log space. The blue and ornage color bar are the frequency ranges of civil aviation and navigation satellites, respectively. The black dashed lines represent the expected drift rates for each observation date. -- astro-ph.IM

SETI & Technosignatures

Narrowband Radio Technosignature Search Toward 3I/ATLAS with FAST

by Keith CowingJuly 3, 2026July 3, 2026

[astro-ph.IM] 3I/ATLAS is the third confirmed interstellar object passing through the Solar System.

The Chinese Space Station Telescope (CSST) – CNSA/Xinhua

Astronomy & Telescopes

Introduction To The Chinese Space Station Survey Telescope (CSST)

by Keith CowingJune 23, 2026June 23, 2026

The Chinese Space Station Survey Telescope (CSST) is an upcoming Stage-IV sky survey telescope, distinguished by its large field of view (FoV), high image quality, and multi-band observation capabilities.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Space Stations

The Capability Of CSST In Characterizing Planetary Atmospheres. I. Transmission Spectroscopy Of Hot Jupiters

by Keith CowingJune 17, 2026June 17, 2026

Transmission spectroscopy has become a primary tool for probing exoplanetary atmospheres, enabling constraints on their chemical compositions and providing limited information on their thermal properties.

Schematic overview of the data-processing workflow in this work. After splitting the 2C data into three antenna spectra, we first conduct a general comb diagnostics for each antenna, then perform per-antenna PCA decomposition, basis alignment, and periodogram/FT/ACF analysis. The component-level results are finally combined to distinguish non-shared periodic signals from shared or comb-like RFI. -- astro-ph.IM

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Missions & Hardware, Moon, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report

First Lunar Farside SETI Observations for Periodic Signals With The Low-frequency Radio Spectrometer Of Chang’E-4 Mission

by Keith CowingApril 12, 2026April 12, 2026

Chang’E-4 (CE4), the first mission to soft-land on the lunar farside, provides a unique opportunity for astronomical observations from an environment shielded from terrestrial radio interference, and thus serves as […]

Micro-characteristics of 40 mJ × 80 times laser-irradiated Kheneg Ljouâd powders observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). a SEM secondary electron image of irradiated powder. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report

Tianwen-2 Target Asteroid (469219) Kamo’oalewa Probably Develops An Itokawa-compositional But Ultra-highly Space-weathered Surface

by Keith CowingApril 1, 2026April 1, 2026

China’s Tianwen-2 mission plans to return samples from a small, rapidly spinning Earth quasi-satellite (469219) Kamo’oalewa. Previous studies linked Kamo’oalewa to lunar composition and origin.

Stacked images of 3I/ATLAS acquired by HiRIC CMOS camera onboard Tianwen-1 spacecraft (upper row) and the corresponding 1/ρ divided images (lower row) from the three epochs. All images are displayed north up and east to the left. The stacked images are displayed with logarithmic brightness stretch, and the enhanced images are displayed with a linear brightness stretch. The arrows in the upper panels mark the projected directions of the Sun and the heliocentric velocity vector. The scalebars are 10,000 km. The bright star trails are visible in each stack due to the apparent movement of 3I in the sky background during each 30-second observation epoch. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Observed from Mars by China’s Tianwen-1 Spacecraft

by Keith CowingMarch 14, 2026March 14, 2026

China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter successfully imaged the third interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS, during its close encounter with Mars using the onboard HiRIC CMOS camera. This is China’s first deep-space observation of […]

The phylogenetic tree showed the amino acid of xoxF and mxaF genes in MAGs from lava tubes, Haikou City, Hainan Province. The blue words indicated the acquired MAGs in this study. -- JGR Planets via x-mol.net

Analog Studies, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering

Microbial Diversity and Metabolic Adaptations in Mars‐Analog Lava Tubes

by Keith CowingJanuary 3, 2026January 2, 2026

Lunar and Martian lava tubes will offer stable temperatures and radiation protection, making them potential habitats for extraterrestrial life. The Martian atmosphere, containing gases like H2, CO, and CH4, could […]