A main determinant of the habitability of exoplanets is the presence of stable liquid surface water. In an era of abundant possible targets, the potential to find a habitable world […]
habitability
Posted inHabitable Zones
Hierarchical Bayesian Atmospheric Retrieval Modeling for Population Studies of Exoplanet Atmospheres: A Case Study on the Habitable Zone
With the growing number of spectroscopic observations and observational platforms capable of exoplanet atmospheric characterization, there is a growing need for analysis techniques that can distill information about a large […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Photochemical Runaway in Exoplanet Atmospheres: Implications for Biosignatures
About 2.5 billion years ago, microbes learned to harness plentiful Solar energy to reduce CO2 with H2O, extracting energy and producing O2 as waste. O2 production from this metabolic process […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Blue Marble, Stagnant Lid: Could Dynamic Topography Avert A Waterworld?
Topography on a wet rocky exoplanet could raise land above its sea level. Although land elevation is the product of many complex processes, the large-scale topographic features on any geodynamically-active […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Study Reveals More Hostile Conditions On Earth As Life Evolved
During long portions of the past 2.4 billion years, the Earth may have been more inhospitable to life than scientists previously thought, according to new computer simulations. Using a state-of-the-art climate model, researchers […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
UV Transmission in Natural Waters on Prebiotic Earth
Ultraviolet (UV) light plays a key role in surficial theories of the origin of life, and numerous studies have focused on constraining the atmospheric transmission of UV radiation on early […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Oxygen In Earth's Early Atmosphere
Scientists have long debated how much molecular oxygen was in Earth’s early atmosphere. About 2.4 billion years ago, there was a rise in oxygen that transformed Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere, […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
New Class Of Habitable Exoplanets Represent A Big Step Forward In The Search For life
In the search for life elsewhere, astronomers have mostly looked for planets of a similar size, mass, temperature and atmospheric composition to Earth. However, astronomers from the University of Cambridge […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Habitability Models for Astrobiology
Habitability has been generally defined as the capability of an environment to support life. Ecologists have been using Habitat Suitability Models (HSMs) for more than four decades to study the […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
The Temporal Onset of Habitability For Earth-Like Planets
The ability of a planet to maintain surface water, key to life as we know it, depends on solar and planetary energy. As a star ages, it delivers more energy […]