The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover continues to live up to its name, pushing forward in search of ancient Martian secrets. Following a brief period of system verification and remote testing, […]
habitability
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
An Alien Ocean On Enceladus Could Hide Signs Of Life From A Spacecraft
Searching for life in alien oceans may be more difficult than scientists previously thought, even when we can sample these extraterrestrial waters directly.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Technical Description and Performance of the Phase II Version of the Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer
The Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) is a series of upgrades for the Keck II Adaptive Optics (AO) system and the NIRSPEC spectrograph to enable diffraction limited, high resolution […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Venus
Sulfur on Venus: Atmospheric, Surface, and Interior Processes
Sulfur-bearing species play critical roles in atmospheric physical-chemical processes, atmosphere-surface interactions, and the geological evolution of Venus. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of(1) Instrumental data on the abundance and […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Interstellar, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Eta-Earth Revisited II: Deriving a Maximum Number of Earth-like Habitats in the Galactic Disk
In Lammer et al. 2024, we defined Earth-like Habitats (EH) as rocky planets in the habitable zone of complex life (HZCL) on which Earth-like N2-O2-dominated atmospheres with minor amounts of […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Eta-Earth Revisited I: A Formula for Estimating the Maximum Number of Earth-like Habitats
In this hypothesis article, we discuss the basic requirements of planetary environments where aerobe organisms can grow and survive, including atmospheric limitations of millimeter-to-meter-sized biological animal life based on physical […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Life’s Building Blocks Discovered In Samples From Asteroid Bennu
Japanese collaborators detected all five nucleobases — building blocks of DNA and RNA — in samples returned from asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return
Pristine Asteroid Samples Reveal Secrets Of The Ancient Solar System
Curtin University researchers have gained an unprecedented glimpse into the early history of our solar system through some of the most well-preserved asteroid samples ever collected, potentially transforming our understanding […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return
Exploring The Mysteries Of Asteroid Bennu
During the past year, there’s been an unusual set of samples at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab): material gathered from the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu when […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return
Dust From asteroid Bennu: Building Blocks Of Life And Possible Habitats Were Widespread In Our Solar System
It took two years for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx space probe to return from asteroid Bennu before dropping off a small capsule as it flew past Earth, which was then recovered in […]