Research led by scientists at Washington State University has revealed insights on how plants form a microscopic landscape of proteins crucial to photosynthesis, the basis of Earth’s food and energy […]
Chlorophyll
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Orbital Biosignature Assay: Phytoplankton Bloom
The Gulf of Oman is a funnel-shaped body of water between Oman and Iran that connects to the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf to the east and the Arabian […]
Posted inCommercial & Private Sector, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Life Support Systems, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Resilience of Chlorella vulgaris to Simulated Atmospheric Gas Compositions of Mars, Jupiter, and Titan
This study investigates the resilience of the unicellular green microalga Chlorella vulgaris to extreme atmospheric conditions simulating those of Mars, Jupiter, and Titan.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
An Overview Of Exoplanet Biosignatures
This chapter reviews proposed exoplanet biosignatures, including their biological origins, observable features, atmospheric sinks, and potentially confounding abiotic sources.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Plant Biology, Press Release
In The Search For Alien Life, Purple May Be The New Green
In the search for life across the cosmos, the familiar green hue we most associate with life on Earth may not be the best indicator. An Earth-like planet orbiting another […]
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Microbiology & Virology, Plant Biology, Press Release
On The Importance And Challenges Of Modelling Extraterrestrial Photopigments Via Density-functional Theory
The emergence of oxygenic photosynthesis was a major event in Earth’s evolutionary history and was facilitated by chlorophylls (a major category of photopigments).
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Plant Biology, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1
Photosynthetic Fluorescence From Earth-Like Planets Around Sun-Like Aand Cool Stars
Remote sensing of the Earth has demonstrated that photosynthesis is traceable as the vegetation red edge (VRE), which is the steep rise in the reflection spectrum of vegetation, and as […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Plant Biology
Prospects for Detecting Oxygen, Water, and Chlorophyll in an Exo-Earth
The goal of finding and characterizing nearby Earth-like planets is driving many NASA high-contrast flagship mission concepts, the latest of which is known as the Advanced Technology Large-Aperture Space Telescope […]
![An artist’s depiction of our world when the Earthshine measurements were taken, enhanced to show the “red edge” from vegetation. A distant astronomer on another planet would see the spectral signatures of our oxygen atmosphere, water, and chlorophyll from land plants. [enlarge] Credit: John Walker’s “Earth Viewer,” Christine Lafon, (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics).](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2002/10/Astronomers-Find-Life-on-Earth.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Astronomers Find Life On Earth
Now that the discovery of extrasolar planets, or planets around distant stars, has become relatively routine, scientists are now tackling the next step: finding life-bearing worlds. To do this, observers […]