The Rocky Worlds Director’s Discretionary Time (DDT) programme combines Hubble and Webb observations to search for evidence of atmospheres on rocky exoplanets orbiting around M-dwarf stars.
Hubble
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Habitable Zones, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
Hubble’s Multi-Year Search for Exospheres in the TRAPPIST-1 System Reveals Frequent Microflares
Ly-α observations provide a powerful probe of stellar activity and atmospheric escape in exoplanetary systems.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Io, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report
Constraining Ongoing Volcanic Outgassing Rates and Interior Compositions of Extrasolar Planets with Mass Measurements of Plasma Tori
We present a novel method of constraining volcanic activity on extrasolar terrestrial worlds via characterization of circumstellar plasma tori.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Spectroscopic Mapping of Callisto with HST/STIS and Implications for its Surface Composition
We present global, spatially resolved ultraviolet-visible spectra of Callisto obtained with HST/STIS and explore possible compositions of Callisto’s surface material.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report
Cloudy Mornings And Clear Evenings On Giant Extrasolar World WASP-94A b
Aerosols are common in exoplanet atmospheres, but their formation-whether through gas condensation or photochemical reactions-remains uncertain.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
A Detailed Investigation of HD 209458 b HST & JWST Transmission Spectra with SANSAR
HD 209458 b is the first exoplanet on which an atmosphere was detected. Since then, its atmosphere has been investigated using multiple telescopes and instruments. However, many of its atmospheric […]
![JWST-MIRI MRS spectrum of the young J0438 disk (black). The spectrum is dominated by amorphous silicate absorption and emission bands typical of a highly inclined disk configuration. A very weak CO2 ice absorption feature is tentatively detected (see Appendix A, Fig. 8) along with inner disk gas reservoir (Table 3) composed by molecular hydrogen (H2), water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), hydrogen cyanide (HCN), acetylene (C2H2) and the singly ionized cations of argon and neon ([Ar+], [Ne+]; for zoom-ins see Appendices B and C). The comparison between the JWST-MIRI and the Spitzer -IRS low- (SL, LL) and high- (SH) resolution spectra reveal continuum and line variability (grey and teal). The Spitzer -IRS spectra were taken from CASSIS (Lebouteiller et al. 2011, 2015) and Pascucci et al. (2013). -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/MINDS-Anatomy-of-a-water-rich.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Brown Dwarfs, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
MINDS. Anatomy Of A Water-rich, Inclined, Brown Dwarf Disk: Lack Of Abundant Hydrocarbons
2MASS J04381486+2611399 (or J0438) is one of the few young brown dwarfs (BD) with a highly inclined (i∼70∘) disk.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
ALMA Detects First-Ever Hydrogen Recombination Lines From Proplyd Disks in Densely Packed Orion Nebula Cluster
Most stars form in clusters, where hundreds to thousands of stars coevolve in proximal environmental conditions that dictate how planetary systems might develop.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
20-Year Hubble Study of Uranus Yields New Atmospheric Insights
The ice-giant planet Uranus, which travels around the Sun tipped on its side, is a weird and mysterious world. Now, in an unprecedented study spanning two decades, researchers using NASA’s […]
![Haze (tholin and soot) models from Jacobs et al. (2023) for two metallicities: [M/H] = 0 (solid) and [M/H] = 1 (dashed). The various formation rates are shown in cool colors for the tholins and in warm colors for the soots. The haze models are compared to the NIRISS/SOSS eclipse spectrum of WASP-80 b. If the aerosols are hazes, they could consist of soots or tholins, with formation rates for tholins most likely lower than 10−11.5g cm−2 s−1. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/A-Moderate-Albedo-From-Reflecting-Aerosols.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
A Moderate Albedo From Reflecting Aerosols On The Dayside Of WASP-80 b Revealed By JWST/NIRISS Eclipse Spectroscopy
Secondary eclipse observations of exoplanets at near-infrared wavelengths enable the detection of thermal emission and reflected stellar light, providing insights into the thermal structure and aerosol composition of their atmospheres.