Alien planets circling the most common stars in the universe may often have strange lobster-shaped oceans on their surfaces, researchers in China now say. What the day side of a […]
extrasolar
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
A Low-order Model of Water Vapor, Clouds, and Thermal Emission for Tidally Locked Terrestrial Planets
We developed an idealized two-column model to investigate the climate of tidally locked terrestrial planets with Earth-like atmospheres in the habitable zone of M-dwarf stars. The model is able to […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Abiotic oxygen-dominated atmospheres on terrestrial habitable zone planets
Detection of life on other planets requires identification of biosignatures, i.e., observable planetary properties that robustly indicate the presence of a biosphere. One of the most widely accepted biosignatures for […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
A Small Step Toward Discovering Habitable Earths
University of Arizona researchers snapped images of a planet outside our solar system with an Earth-based telescope using essentially the same type of imaging sensor found in digital cameras instead […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Dimer Molecules Aid Study of Exoplanet Pressure, Hunt for Life
Astronomers at the University of Washington have developed a new method of gauging the atmospheric pressure of exoplanets, or worlds beyond the solar system, by looking for a certain type […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Every Red Dwarf Star Has at Least One Planet
Three new planets classified as habitable-zone super-Earths are amongst eight new planets discovered orbiting nearby red dwarf stars by an international team of astronomers from the UK and Chile. The […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Water Vapor Detected in the Atmosphere of a Hot Jupiter
Although liquid water covers a majority of Earth’s surface, scientists are still searching for planets outside of our solar system that contain water. Researchers at Caltech and several other institutions […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Plant Biology
Photosynthetic Potential of Planets in 3:2 Spin Orbit Resonances
Photosynthetic life requires sufficient photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) to metabolise. On Earth, plant behaviour, physiology and metabolism are sculpted around the night-day cycle by an endogenous biological circadian clock. The […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Possibilities of Life Around Alpha Centauri B
We make a preliminary assessment on the habitability of potential rocky exoplanets around Alpha Centauri B. We use several indexes: the Earth Similarity Index, a mathematical model for photosynthesis, and […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Dynamical Test for Terrestrial Planets in Habitable Zone of HD 204313
With improvements in exoplanet detection techniques, the number of multiple planet systems discovered is increasing, while the detection of potentially habitable Earth-mass planets remains complicated and thus requires new search […]