The increasing size and heterogeneity of exoplanet catalogs have made systematic habitability assessment challenging, particularly given the extreme scarcity of potentially habitable planets and the evolving nature of their labels.
Habitable Zone
Long-term Activity Cycles In Planetary M Stars Observed With SOPHIE
M dwarfs are prime targets for exoplanet searches due to their low masses and radii, which enable the detection of small planets in their habitable zones (HZs).
Oxygen Reductase Origin Followed The Great Oxidation Event And Terminated The Lomagundi Excursion
The history of Earth’s atmospheric oxygen is a cornerstone of evolutionary biology. While unequivocal evidence for an increase in atmospheric O2 marks the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) roughly 2.4 billion […]
Microbes From Ambient-pressure Analogues Offer Insights Into Possible Life In Europa’s High-pressure Subsurface Ocean
Under its thick ice layer, Europa contains a shielded liquid water ocean where habitable conditions may exist. To effectively assess the habitability of this environment and the implications on putative […]
Short-term Survival Of Tardigrades In Martian Regolith Simulants
With future intended human missions to Mars, it is crucial to understand the potential habitability of martian regolith both to support plant growth and to mitigate accidental release of organisms […]
Ultraviolet Observations Of Atmospheric Escape In Exoplanets With The Habitable Worlds Observatory
Among the many recommendations of the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020, we found that a priority area of research is to pave the pathways towards finding and characterizing […]
Exploring The Habitability Of The Outer Solar System Icy Moons For The Extremotolerant Yeast Rhodotorula frigidalcoholis
Psychrophilic and psychrotolerant microorganisms have the unique ability to grow below 0°C, which makes them ideal candidates for studying how life could survive on the icy moons of the solar […]
Formation and Survival of Complex Organic Molecules in the Jovian Circumplanetary Disk
Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are key targets in the search for habitability due to the potential presence of subsurface oceans. Detecting complex organic molecules (COMs), essential for prebiotic chemistry, is […]
The Interplanetary Habitable Zone
The concept of a system-wide measure of the sustainment of life (habitability) for space-faring interplanetary species is introduced and explored.
The Habitable Worlds Observatory In Historical Context
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is humanity’s most ambitious scientific endeavor to explore nearby sun-like stars for the presence of habitable rocky exoplanets and the possible presence of life.
