Mars was once a wet world. The geological record of the Red Planet shows evidence for water flowing on the surface – from river deltas to valleys carved by massive […]
habitability
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
Heating of the Atmospheres of Short-orbit Exoplanets by Their Rapid Orbital Motion through an Extreme Space Environment
Exoplanets with short orbit periods reside very close to their host stars. They transition very rapidly between different sectors of the circumstellar space environment along their orbit, leading to large […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
The Effect Of Lightning On The Atmospheric Chemistry Of Exoplanets And Potential Biosignatures
Lightning has been suggested to play a role in triggering the occurrence of bio-ready chemical species. Future missions (PLATO, ARIEL, HWO, LIFE) and ground-based ELTs will investigate the atmospheres of […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
On The Ocean Conditions Of Hycean Worlds
Recent studies have suggested the possibility of Hycean worlds, characterised by deep liquid water oceans beneath H2-rich atmospheres.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Search For Stellar Companions Of Exoplanet Host Stars With AstraLux/CAHA 2.2 m
Stellar multiplicity is a key aspect of exoplanet diversity, as the presence of more than one star in a planetary system can have both devastating and positive effects on its […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Proxima Centauri, Status Report
Water Vapour Transit Ambiguities for Habitable M-Earths
We have shown in a recent study, using 3D climate simulations, that dayside land cover has a substantial impact on the climate of a synchronously rotating temperate rocky planet such […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report
Modelling The Rotation Dependence Of Cycle Variability In Sun-like Stars: Answering Why Only Slowly Rotating Stars Produce Grand Minima
The Sun and solar-type stars exhibit irregular cyclic variations in their magnetic activity over long time scales.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Passing Stars As An Important Driver of Paleoclimate And The Solar System’s Orbital Evolution
Reconstructions of the paleoclimate indicate that ancient climatic fluctuations on Earth are often correlated with variations in its orbital elements.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean Transform Faults Study Reveal Previously Unknown Part Of Earth’s Geological Carbon Cycle
Editor’s note: The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago was visited by the HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin aboard in 1832 and again by the HMS Challenger – the namesake […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Eccentricity Distribution Beyond the Snow Line and Implications for Planetary Habitability
A fundamental question in the study of planetary system demographics is: how common is the solar system architecture?