![Earth biosignatures through time and their reflected light spectra. The left subplot shows estimates of Earth’s bulk atmospheric composition through time (advancing from top to bottom), and the figures on the right show the corresponding reflected light spectra considered in this study. Key absorption features for biosignature gases (O3, O2, CH4) and suggested long- and short-wavelength cutoffs are highlighted (as discussed further in Sections 3 and 4). Adapted from National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021) and LUVOIR and HabEx Final Reports (LUVOIR Team, 2019; Gaudi et al., 2020). -- [Astrobiology (Journal)]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Wavelength.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
[Astrobiology (Journal)] Searching for signs of life is a primary goal of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). However, merely detecting oxygen, methane, or other widely discussed biosignatures is insufficient evidence […]
Earth-like exoplanet
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Searching For Habitable Exoplanets With Relative Astrometry (SHERA). I. The Case For Searching For Planets In Binary Star Systems
[astro-ph.EP] Discovering Earth-like planets orbiting Sun-like stars was identified as a priority science goal of the Astronomy 2020 Decadal Survey.
![Life 2.0 mission concept and simulated biosignature spectroscopy. The distributed array observes a common target with many one-meter telescope modules. The example spectra illustrate UV-optical atmospheric signatures and the simulated recovery of O₃, O₂, and H₂O after calibrated spectral co-addition. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Life-2.0.jpg?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Life 2.0: A Scalable Distributed Space-Telescope Array For Biosignature Spectroscopy
[astro-ph.IM] Answering the question “Are we alone?” requires atmospheric spectroscopy of nearby terrestrial planets. For an Earth–Sun analog, even the strongest transmission signals are expected to be of order 1 […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy
Achieving Efficient Broadband Spatial Filtering For LIFE: Status And Plan
[astro-ph.IM] Nulling interferometry is one of the most promising techniques that is envisioned for the imaging and characterization of exoplanets in the mid-infrared for ground-based and space-based observatories. On the […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry
Mapping Alien Continents: Achieving Optical VLBI For Exoplanet Imaging
[NIAC / NASA] The scientific goal of the proposed work will be reconstructing the image, i.e. resolving surface features, of an Earth-like exoplanet around a nearby star as seen in […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
A New Earth-like Exoplanet Discovered
[UC Irvine] A team led by astronomers at the University of California, Irvine reports the discovery of a new Earth-like exoplanet orbiting a star about 25 light-years from our solar […]
Posted inUncategorized
An Agnostic Machine Learning Model of Photosynthetic Habitability
The search for exoplanet biosignatures is guided by whether planetary environments can sustain photosynthesis.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The Effect Of Spectral Resolution On Biosignature Detection Via Reflected Light Observations Of The Earth Through Time
NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will search for biosignatures on Earth-like exoplanets using reflected light spectroscopy.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The RoPES Project With HARPS and HARPS-N III. Two Candidate Planets Orbiting The G-type Star HD 161098
Context. The development of refined instruments and techniques for a detailed analysis of the radial velocities (RVs) of stars other than the Sun allows the presence of planetary signals of […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Goldilocks Problem For Detecting Water In Terrestrial Planets: Constraining Water Abundances In The mid-IR With LIFE
We investigate how well the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) mission concept can detect habitable conditions on exoplanets through the presence of atmospheric water vapor as a proxy for surface […]