A major open question in exoplanet research is whether secondary atmospheres are rare around Earth-sized rocky exoplanets. In this work we determine the distance at which an Earth-sized planet orbiting […]
Habitable Zone
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures
Could An Earth-like Alien Civilization Detect Us?
If an extraterrestrial civilization existed with Earth-like technology, would they be able to detect Earth and evidence of humanity? If so, what signals would they detect and from how far […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Prospects For Biological Evolution On Hycean Worlds
Recent detections of carbon-bearing molecules in the atmosphere of a candidate Hycean world, K2-18 b, with JWST are opening the prospects for characterising potential biospheres on temperate exoplanets.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release, Stellar Cartography
The Fastest Exoplanet System Yet Discovered
Astronomers may have discovered a scrawny star bolting through the middle of our galaxy with a planet in tow. If confirmed, the pair sets a new record for the fastest-moving […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
KOBE 1: The First Planetary System From the KOBE survey. Two Planets Likely Residing in the sub-Neptune Mass Regime Around a Late K-dwarf
K-dwarf stars are promising targets in the exploration of potentially habitable planets. Their properties, falling between G and M dwarfs, provide an optimal trade-off between the prospect of habitability and […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1, Venus
TRAPPIST-1 d: Exo-Venus, Exo-Earth or Exo-Dead?
TRAPPIST-1 d is generally assumed to be at the boundary between a Venus-like world and an Earth-like world, although recently published works on TRAPPIST-1 b and c raise concerns that […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures
Earth Detecting Earth
A research team led by Dr. Sofia Sheikh of the SETI Institute, in collaboration with the Characterizing Atmospheric Technosignatures project and the Penn State Extraterrestrial Intelligence Center, set out to […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Interstellar, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Eta-Earth Revisited II: Deriving a Maximum Number of Earth-like Habitats in the Galactic Disk
In Lammer et al. 2024, we defined Earth-like Habitats (EH) as rocky planets in the habitable zone of complex life (HZCL) on which Earth-like N2-O2-dominated atmospheres with minor amounts of […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Revisiting the Multi-planetary System of the Nearby star HD 20794: Confirmation of a Low-mass Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Nearby G-dwarf
Close-by Earth analogs and super-Earths are of primary importance because they will be preferential targets for the next generation of direct imaging instruments. Bright and close-by G-to-M type stars are […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Eta-Earth Revisited I: A Formula for Estimating the Maximum Number of Earth-like Habitats
In this hypothesis article, we discuss the basic requirements of planetary environments where aerobe organisms can grow and survive, including atmospheric limitations of millimeter-to-meter-sized biological animal life based on physical […]