Photometric variation of a directly imaged planet contains information on both the geography and spectra of the planetary surface. We propose a novel technique that disentangles the spatial and spectral […]
habitability
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Global Mapping of an Exo-Earth using Sparse Modeling
We develop a new retrieval scheme for obtaining two-dimensional surface maps of exoplanets from scattered light curves. In our scheme, the combination of the L1-norm and Total Squared Variation, which […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
The Habitability of Large Elliptical Galaxies
Based on numbers of stars, supernova rates, and metallicity, a prior study (Dayal et al. 2015) concluded that large elliptical galaxies contain up to 10,000 times more habitable planets than […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Study Challenges Common View Of Oxygen Scarcity On Earth 2 Billion Years Ago
Shungite, a unique carbon-rich sedimentary rock from Russia that deposited 2 billion years ago, holds clues about oxygen concentrations on Earth’s surface at that time. Led by Professor Kurt Konhauser […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Earth's Polar Night Boundary Layer As An Analogue For Dark Side Inversions On Synchronously Rotating Terrestrial Exoplanets
A key factor in determining the potential habitability of synchronously rotating planets is the strength of the atmospheric boundary layer inversion between the dark side surface and the free atmosphere. […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Proxima Centauri
The UV Surface Habitability of Proxima b: First Experiments Revealing Probable Life Survival To Stellar Flares
We use a new interdisciplinary approach to study the UV surface habitability of Proxima b under quiescent and flaring stellar conditions. We assumed planetary atmospheric compositions based on CO2 and […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Early Earth May Have Been A Water World
New research shows that the early Earth, home to some of our planet’s first lifeforms, may have been a real-life “waterworld”– without a continent in sight. The study, which appears […]
Posted inPress Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics
Wind Morphology Around Cool Evolved Stars In Binaries: The Case Of Slowly Accelerating Oxygen-rich Outflows
The late stellar evolutionary phases of low and intermediate-mass stars are strongly constrained by their mass-loss rates. The wind surrounding cool evolved stars frequently shows non-spherical features, thought to be […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Habitability and Water Loss Limits on Eccentric Planets Orbiting Main Sequence Stars
A planet’s climate can be strongly affected by its orbital eccentricity and obliquity. Here we use a 1-dimensional energy balance model modified to include a simple runaway greenhouse (RGH) parameterization […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Transition From Eyeball To Snowball Driven By Sea-ice Drift On Tidally Locked Terrestrial Planets
Tidally locked terrestrial planets around low-mass stars are the prime targets for future atmospheric characterizations of potentially habitable systems, especially the three nearby ones–Proxima b, TRAPPIST-1e, and LHS 1140b. Previous […]