Scientists have shown that water is likely to be a major component of those exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars) which are between two to four times the size of Earth. […]
habitable
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Impact of Gas Giant Instabilities on Habitable Planets
The detection of many extrasolar gas giants with high eccentricities indicates that dynamical instabilities in planetary systems are common. These instabilities can alter the orbits of gas giants as well […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
How Alien Can Alien Worlds Be?
In an attempt to select stars that can host planets with characteristics similar to our own, we selected seven solar-type stars known to host planets in the habitable zone and […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
There's More To Life Than The Habitable Zone
Two separate teams of scientists have identified major challenges for the development of life in what has recently become one of the most famous exoplanet systems, TRAPPIST-1. The teams, both […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
No Snowball on Habitable Tidally Locked Planets
The TRAPPIST-1, Proxima Centauri, and LHS 1140 systems are the most exciting prospects for future follow-up observations of potentially inhabited planets. All orbit nearby M-stars and are likely tidally locked […]
Posted inEnceladus, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds
Hydrothermal Activity in The Seas of Enceladus: Implications For Habitable Zones
On Thursday NASA will announce evidence that hydrothermal activity on the floor of an ice-covered ocean on Saturn’s moon Enceladus is most likely creating methane from carbon dioxide. The process […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Constraints on Climate and Habitability for Earth-like Exoplanets Determined from a General Circulation Model
Conventional definitions of habitability require abundant liquid surface water to exist continuously over geologic timescales. Water in each of its thermodynamic phases interacts with solar and thermal radiation and is […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Pale Orange Dots: The Impact of Organic Haze on the Habitability and Detectability of Earthlike Exoplanets
Hazes are common in known planet atmospheres, and geochemical evidence suggests early Earth occasionally supported an organic haze with significant environmental and spectral consequences. The UV spectrum of the parent […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Impact of CO2 Ice Clouds on the Outer Boundary of the Habitable Zone
Clouds have a strong impact on the climate of planetary atmospheres. The potential scattering greenhouse effect of CO2 ice clouds in the atmospheres of terrestrial extrasolar planets is of particular […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Detection of the Atmosphere of the 1.6 Earth Mass Exoplanet GJ 1132b
Detecting the atmospheres of low-mass low-temperature exoplanets is a high-priority goal on the path to ultimately detect biosignatures in the atmospheres of habitable exoplanets. High-precision HST observations of several super-Earths […]