Astronomers are intrigued when finding evidence of water vapour on exoplanets. Based on observations with the Hubble Space Telescope, a recent example is the planet GJ 9827d, which may have […]
Hubble Space Telescope
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Beta Pictoris, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Telescope Discovers Dusty ‘Cat’s Tail’ In The Beta Pictoris System
Beta Pictoris, a young planetary system located just 63 light-years away, continues to intrigue scientists even after decades of in-depth study.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Press Release, Uranus
Calibrating Instruments For Exoplanets: What Neptune And Uranus Really Look Like
Neptune is fondly known for being a rich blue and Uranus green – but a new study has revealed that the two ice giants are actually far closer in colour […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Hubble Observes The Atmosphere Of Exoplanet WASP-121 b Changing Over 3 Years
The Jupiter-sized planet WASP-121 b is no place to call home. For starters, it orbits very close to a star that is brighter and hotter than the Sun. The planet […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Surface Of Enceladus Shields Buried Organics
The Saturnian moon Enceladus presents a unique opportunity in our Solar System to search for evidence of life, given its habitable ocean and plume that deposits organic-bearing ocean material onto […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Hubble Detected C60 Molecules aka Buckyballs
Scientists using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed the presence of electrically-charged molecules in space shaped like soccer balls, shedding light on the mysterious contents of the interstellar medium (ISM) […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics
X-rays May Tell Us More About The Origins Of Visiting Space Rocks
A research team led by a Yale astronomer has some advice for our next close encounter with a wandering, interstellar object. Check its X-rays on the way out. Since 2017, […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Water Absorption In The Transmission Spectrum Of The Water-world Candidate GJ9827d
Recent work on the characterization of small exoplanets has allowed us to accumulate growing evidence that the sub-Neptunes with radii greater than ∼2.5R⊕ often host H2/He-dominated atmospheres both from measurements […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Discovers Methane, Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere of K2-18 b
A new investigation with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Radiation, Status Report
The Radiation Environments of Middle-Aged F-Type Stars
Far ultraviolet (FUV) emission lines from dwarf stars are important driving sources of photochemistry in planetary atmospheres. Properly interpreting spectral features of planetary atmospheres critically depends on the emission of […]