The presence of aerosols is intimately linked to the global energy budget and composition of planet atmospheres.
Hubble Space Telescope
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics
A Young Super-Earth Orbiting Red Dwarf AU Microscopii Is Evaporating
A young planet whirling around a petulant red dwarf star is changing in unpredictable ways orbit-by-orbit. It is so close to its parent star that it experiences a consistent, torrential […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
HST/WFC3 Light Curve Confirms the Closest Exoplanet to Transit an M Dwarf is Terrestrial
Previous studies of the exoplanet LTT 1445Ac concluded that the light curve from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) was consistent with both grazing and non-grazing geometries. As a result, […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Constraints On Europa’s Water Group Torus From HST/COS Observations
In-situ plasma measurements as well as remote mapping of energetic neutral atoms around Jupiter provide indirect evidence that an enhancement of neutral gas is present near the orbit of the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Dying Star CW Leonis Surrounded By A Cloud Of Life Ingredient Carbon
The orange-red “cobwebs” in this Hubble image are dusty clouds of sooty carbon engulfing the dying star CW Leonis.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Puffy Planets Can Lose Their Atmospheres And Become Super-Earths
If our solar system were a hobbyist kit, it would come boxed up with four rocky terrestrial planets, like Earth; and four gas giant planets like Jupiter.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
Spectroscopic Mapping Of Io’s Surface With HST/STIS: SO2 Frost, Sulfur allotropes, And Large-scale Compositional Patterns
Io’s intense volcanic activity results in one of the most colorful surfaces in the solar system. Ultraviolet and visible-wavelength observations of Io are critical to uncovering the chemistry behind its […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The Transmission Spectrum Of The Potentially Rocky Planet L 98-59 c
We present observations of the 1.35+/-0.07 Earth-radius planet L 98-59 c using Wide Field Camera~3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. L 98-59 is a nearby (10.6 pc), bright (H=7.4 mag), […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
A Reexamination of Phosphorus and Chlorine Depletions in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium
We present a comprehensive examination of interstellar P and Cl abundances based on an analysis of archival spectra acquired with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph of the Hubble Space Telescope […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Probing Ganymede’s Atmosphere With HST Lyα Images In Transit Of Jupiter
We report results from far-ultraviolet observations by the Hubble Space Telescope of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede transiting across the planet’s dayside hemisphere.