The abundances of atmospheric carbon species–carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and methane (CH4)–exert fundamental controls on the climate, redox state, and prebiotic environment of terrestrial planets.
Habitable Zone
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, NASA Astrobiology Program, Status Report
Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO): Living Worlds Community Working Group: The Search for Life on Potentially Habitable Exoplanets
The discovery of a biosphere on another planet would transform how we view ourselves, and our planet Earth, in relation to the rest of the cosmos.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
Anatomy Of Empirical Transit Spectra Of Mars Based On TGO/NOMAD
Transit spectroscopy is a powerful tool for probing atmospheric structures of exoplanets. Accurately accounting for the effects of aerosols is key to reconstructing atmospheric properties from transit spectra, yet this […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mars Was Half Covered By An Ocean
Using images from cameras on Mars orbiters, an international research team led by the University of Bern has discovered structures on Mars that are very similar to classic river deltas […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Habitable Worlds Observatory Living Worlds Working Group: Surface Biosignatures on Potentially Habitable Exoplanets
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is the first NASA Astrophysics flagship mission with a key science goal of searching for signs of life on rocky habitable exoplanets beyond our solar […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
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 […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Two Temperate Earth- and Neptune-sized Planets Orbiting Fully Convective M dwarfs
As the diversity of exoplanets continues to grow, it is important to revisit assumptions about habitability and classical HZ definitions. In this work, we introduce an expanded ‘temperate’ zone, defined […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Paving the Road to the Habitable Worlds Observatory with High-Resolution Imaging I: New and Archival Speckle Observations of Potential HWO Target Stars
One of the key goals of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is to directly image about 25 potentially habitable exoplanets and determine their properties.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Exo-Geoscience Perspectives Beyond Habitability
This article reviews the emerging field of exo-geoscience, focusing on the geological and geophysical processes thought to influence the evolution and (eu)habitability of rocky exoplanets.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Stellar Cartography
Naturally Occurring “Space Weather Station” Elucidates New Way To Study Habitability Of Planets Orbiting M Dwarf Stars
How does a star affect the makeup of its planets? And what does this mean for the habitability of distant worlds? Carnegie’s Luke Bouma is exploring a new way to […]