Much like detectives who study fingerprints to identify the culprit, scientists used NASA’s Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes to find the “fingerprints” of water in the atmosphere of a hot, […]
extrasolar
Posted inPress Release, SETI & Technosignatures
Possible Photometric Signatures of Moderately Advanced Civilizations: The Clarke Exobelt
This paper puts forward a possible new indicator for the presence of moderately advanced civilizations on transiting exoplanets. The idea is to examine the region of space around a planet […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
Limitation of Atmospheric Composition by Combustion-explosion in Exoplanetary Atmospheres
This work presents theoretical studies which combine aspects of combustion and explosion theory with exoplanetary atmospheric science. Super Earths could possess a large amount of molecular hydrogen depending on disk, […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Decrease In Hysteresis of Planetary Climate For Planets With Long Solar Days
The ice-albedo feedback on rapidly-rotating terrestrial planets in the habitable zone can lead to abrupt transitions (bifurcations) between a warm and a snowball (ice-covered) state, bistability between these states, and […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Press Release
Geoscience and the Search for Life Beyond the Solar System
How can scientists conclude with high confidence that an exoplanet hosts life? As telescopes come on line over the next 20 years that can directly observe photons from terrestrial exoplanets, […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Oceanic Tides from Earth-like to Ocean Planets
Oceanic tides are a major source of tidal dissipation. They drive the evolution of planetary systems and the rotational dynamics of planets. However, 2D models commonly used for the Earth […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Stellar Winds, Magnetized and Unmagnetized Planets, and Habitability
The extent to which a magnetosphere protects its planetary atmosphere from stellar wind ablation depends upon how well it prevents plasma from entering and how well it traps otherwise escaping […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Habitability of Exoplanet Waterworlds
We model the evolution of ocean temperature and chemistry for rocky exoplanets with 10-1000 times Earth’s H2O but without H2, taking into account C partitioning, high-pressure ice phases, and atmosphere-lithosphere […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Water And The Interior Structure Of Terrestrial Planets And Icy Bodies
Water content and the internal evolution of terrestrial planets and icy bodies are closely linked. The distribution of water in planetary systems is controlled by the temperature structure in the […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Habitable Planets Around Pulsars Theoretically Possible
It is theoretically possible that habitable planets exist around pulsars. Such planets must have an enormous atmosphere that convert the deadly X-rays and high-energy particles of the pulsar into heat. […]