With a focus on off-the-shelf components, Twinkle is the first in a series of cost competitive small satellites managed and financed by Blue Skies Space Ltd. The satellite is based […]
extrasolar
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Density, Not Radius, Separates Rocky And Water-rich Small Planets Orbiting M Dwarf Stars
Exoplanets smaller than Neptune are common around red dwarf stars (M dwarfs), with those that transit their host star constituting the bulk of known temperate worlds amenable for atmospheric characterization. […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Water Worlds Are More Common Than We Thought
Water is the one thing all life on Earth needs, and the cycle of rain to river to ocean to rain is an essential part of what keeps our planet’s […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Two Temperate Super-Earths Transiting A Nearby Late-type M Dwarf
In the age of JWST, temperate terrestrial exoplanets transiting nearby late-type M dwarfs provide unique opportunities for characterising their atmospheres, as well as searching for biosignature gases. We report here […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Venus
Hot Earth Or Young Venus? A Nearby Transiting Rocky Planet Mystery
Venus and Earth provide an astonishingly different view of the evolution of a rocky planet, raising the question of why these two rocky worlds evolved so differently. The recently discovered […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1
SPECULOOS Discovers A Potentially Habitable Super-Earth
An international team of scientists, led by Laetitia Delrez, astrophysicist at the University of Liège (Belgium), has just announced the discovery of two ‘super-Earth’ type planets orbiting LP 890-9. Also […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Life On Exoplanets In The Habitable Zone Of M-Dwarfs?
Exoplanets orbiting in the habitable zone around M-dwarf stars have been prime targets in the search for life due to the long lifetimes of the host star, the prominence of […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Two New Rocky Worlds Around An Ultra-cool Star TOI-4306
An international research team, with the participation of the University of Bern and the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS, discovered two “super-Earth” exoplanets. One is located at […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Photobombing Earth 2.0: Diffraction Limit Related Contamination and Uncertainty in Habitable Planet Spectra
Observing habitable exoplanets that may resemble Earth is a key priority in astronomy that is dependent on not only detecting such worlds, but also ascertaining that apparent signatures of habitability […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Characterization Of Exoplanetary Atmospheres With SLOPpy
Transmission spectroscopy is among the most fruitful techniques to infer the main opacity sources present in the upper atmosphere of a transiting planet and to constrain the composition of the […]