habitability Archives - Page 37 of 98 - Astrobiology

Lisa Kaltenegger Credit: Ryan Young/Cornell University

Astrobiology (general), People Of Astrobiology, Press Release

Carl Sagan Medal Awarded To Astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger

by Keith CowingAugust 16, 2025August 16, 2025

Lisa Kaltenegger, associate professor in the Department of Astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the 2025 Carl Sagan Medal by the Division for Planetary Sciences […]

Maximum predicted emission frequency and radio flux density for known exoplanets (triangle symbols; data from [8]). The uncertainties on the predictions are estimated to one order of magnitude for the flux density and a factor of 2-3 for the emission frequency12. The sensitivities for the ground-based (UTR-2, LOFAR, NenuFAR, SKA-Low, VLA, GMRT) and space-based (FARSIDE, LCRT, FARVIEW ) radio telescopes are labeled (for 10 min of integration time and a bandwidth of 24 MHz). The FARVIEW and LCRT sensitivity curves are taken from [19] and [2], respectively. The LuSEE-Night sensitivity curve is averaged over the entire two-year mission and includes post-processing using a LombScargle periodogram (see text for details). The possible detection of τ Boo b from LOFAR23 is shown as a red star. This figure is adapted from [9]. -- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Status Report

Studying Exoplanets In The Radio From The Moon

by Keith CowingAugust 14, 2025August 14, 2025

Exoplanets with and without a magnetic field are predicted to form, behave, and evolve very differently.

This artist’s concept depicts planet TRAPPIST-1 d passing in front of its turbulent star, with other members of the closely packed system shown in the background. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1

Webb Narrows Atmospheric Possibilities For Earth-sized Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2025August 13, 2025

The exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d intrigues astronomers looking for possibly habitable worlds beyond our solar system because it is similar in size to Earth, rocky, and resides in an area around […]

Joint posterior constraints on the surface partial pressure of key atmospheric absorbers for atmospheric scenarios similar to solar system terrestrials, with N2 as the background gas. The color shadings correspond to the posterior probability mass, and the contours highlight the 68% and 95% confidence regions from the joint retrieval in each case. The absorber in the N2-background atmosphere is labeled in the top right corner of each panel. The dashed-dotted, dashed, and solid sienna lines correspond to an atmospheric surface pressure of 0.1, 1, and 10 bar. We illustrate where typical models of Archean Earth (AE), Modern Earth (ME), and compositions for Titan (T), early Mars (eMa), Mars (Ma), and Venus (V; Encrenaz & Coustenis 2018) approximately lie relative to our constraints for TRAPPIST-1 d. Star markers correspond to specific cloudy cases, where the planet is modeled as either cloudy or cloud-free (for Titan, Modern Earth, and Venus). For the N2-H2O case, we show as a black dotted line the limit of pressures that would be cut off by refraction in a 11 bar atmosphere (10 bar H2O+1 bar N2). For thinner atmospheres, the impact of refraction on atmosphere detectability is even weaker. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Strict Limits On Potential Secondary Atmospheres On The Temperate Rocky Exo-Earth TRAPPIST-1 d

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2025August 13, 2025

The nearby TRAPPIST-1 system, with its seven small rocky planets orbiting a late-type M8 star, offers an unprecedented opportunity to search for secondary atmospheres on temperate terrestrial worlds.

Sulfuric acid phase diagram. The pressure in atm (y-axis) vs. temperature in K (x-axis). The large purple shaded region represents the theoretical liquid-phase boundary for 98% w/w concentrated sulfuric acid (the rest water), adapted from Ballesteros et al. (31), based on their compiled experimental data from (47). Our light grey curve fit follows the data from (32), and diverges from the (31) below 475 K due to different thermodynamic sources. Above about 570 K, H₂SO₄ decomposes into SO₃ and H₂O rather than existing as a stable gas-phase species, shown by the hatched purple region. The solid red line marks an approximate thermal threshold above which organic compounds are expected to thermally break down, where ~470 K is conservative from the lower range of our measured decomposition temperatures (Table 1). The blue shade region indicates the liquid phase of water. The region to the left of the purple and red lines (and spanning about 100 K colder than the purple line (SI Table S9)) includes conditions under which planet surfaces may allow liquid H₂SO₄ to persist, dissolve organic material, and evaporate, leading to the formation of hydrogen sulfate ionic liquids. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Warm, Water-depleted Rocky Exoplanets With Surface Ionic Liquids: A Proposed Class For Planetary Habitability

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2025

The discovery of thousands of exoplanets and the emergence of telescopes capable of exoplanet atmospheric characterization have intensified the search for habitable worlds.

Ionic liquids. (A) schematic of an ionic liquid composed of a hydrogen sulfate anion and a glycine cation. (B) Vials of selected ionic liquids composed of N-containing organics and hydrogen sulfate anions, compounds as labeled in the image. Ionic liquids are typically transparent, with a range of chemical characteristics including colors and viscosities. The ionic liquids were generated by evaporating excess sulfuric acid from mixtures of various organic compounds and concentrated sulfuric acid. -- PNAS

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Press Release

Planets Without Water Could Still Produce Certain Liquids

by Keith CowingAugust 12, 2025August 12, 2025

Water is essential for life on Earth. So, the liquid must be a requirement for life on other worlds. For decades, scientists’ definition of habitability on other planets has rested […]

The proposed readout system builds upon high-TRL modular SpaceCube hardware. Left panel: The readout system uses a build-to-print SpaceCube v3.0 Mini where the FPGA card (primary side pictured) houses a Xilinx Kintex KU060 chip. Right panel: Photograph of a full SpaceCube electronics system with 1U CubeSat cards inserted into a backplane.-- astro-ph.IM

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Development of Space Qualified Signal Processing Readout Electronics for HabWorlds and Origins Space Telescope Detector and Arrays

by Keith CowingAugust 11, 2025August 11, 2025

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) — a flagship ultraviolet/optical/infrared space telescope recommended by the National Academies’ Pathways to Discovery in Astronomy and Astrophysics — will require detector technologies capable of […]

Exoplanet atmosphere -- NASA larger image

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Diversity Of Exoplanetary Environments And The Search For Signs Of Life Beyond Earth

by Keith CowingAugust 8, 2025

Thousands of exoplanets orbit nearby stars, showcasing a remarkable diversity in mass, size and orbits.

Stellar flares observed in JWST/NIRISS time-series spectroscopy of TRAPPIST-1. Each column shows one flare event during transits of the TRAPPIST-1c or TRAPPIST-1f planets. Tow row: Light curves with the total flux (integrated over the full spectral range and normalized to the mean out-of-transit flux). Colored points indicate pre-flare (green), flare (orange), maximum flare light (red), and post-flare (blue) phases. Green and blue dashed lines mark the average pre- and post-flare flux levels. Middle row: Light curves of the normalized Hα flux. Bottom row: Time-resolved spectrograms (wavelength vs. time) normalized to the pre-flare spectrum. The shaded blue region shows the drop in flux caused by the planetary transit. For comparison, the time axis in all panels are aligned such that t = 0 corresponds to the beginning of the maximum flare light phase. In all four events, the total flux in the post-flare phase is systematically elevated relative to the pre-flare level. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, TRAPPIST-1

Flares On TRAPPIST-1 Reveal The Spectrum Of Magnetic Features On Its Surface

by Keith CowingAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

TRAPPIST-1 is an M8 dwarf hosting seven known exoplanets and is currently one of the most frequently observed targets of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Snapshots of a cross-sectional slice of a head-on collision between a non-rotating Venus and a 0.1 M⊕ impactor at 10 km s−1 . shown at multiple time steps. Initial energy deposition at the impact site generates pressure waves that converge at the antipode, causing significant heating and deformation. The outcome of this collisions is a merger. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Status Report, Venus

The Possibility Of A Giant Impact On Venus

by Keith CowingAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

Giant impacts were common in the early evolution of the Solar System, and it is possible that Venus also experienced an impact. A giant impact on Venus could have affected […]