hydrogen Archives - Astrobiology

An artist’s rendition of Saturn’s moon Enceladus depicts hydrothermal activity on the seafloor and cracks in the moon’s icy crust that allow material from the watery interior to be ejected into space. New research shows that instruments destined for the next missions could find traces of a single cell in a single ice grain contained in a plume. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report

Tidal Rock Grinding As A Source Of H2 On Enceladus

by Keith CowingJune 16, 2026June 16, 2026

The Solar System hosts multiple potentially habitable environments, including the subsurface ocean beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus.

Sketch showing processes leading to larger H-loss in the past 20 million years (Myr). -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Status Report

Increased Hydrogen Escape From Mars Atmosphere During Periods Of High Obliquity

by Keith CowingMay 23, 2025May 23, 2025

IMAGE Caption: Sketch showing processes leading to larger H-loss in the past 20 million years (Myr). The loss rate is not expected to have been constant with time, and may […]

Optical image of the clastic matrix region in LAR 12252 that was studied using S-XANES. Notable phases include enstatite (example outlined in red), sulphides (example outlined in yellow), a small chondrule fragment (outlined in orange), and fine matrix (example highlighted in pink). b Corresponding map calculated from the SXANES spectra of the region shown in a, showing the amplitude of the H-S peak at each point normalised to the average amplitude of point spectra measured from chondrule mesostasis. Black pixels correspond to points where the S-XANES spectra that did not contain a resolvable H-S peak. White pixels correspond to points where the SXANES spectra could not be fitted due to their quality or noise in the spectra. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Source of Hydrogen in Earth’s Building Blocks

by Keith CowingJune 21, 2024June 21, 2024

Despite being pivotal to the habitability of our planet, the process by which Earth gained its present-day hydrogen budget is unclear. Due to their isotopic similarity to terrestrial rocks across […]

Reprocessed images show the true colors of Uranus (left) and Neptune. -- University of Oxford

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus

Uranus And Neptune As Methane Planets: Producing Icy Giants From Refractory Planetesimals

by Keith CowingJune 1, 2024May 12, 2025

Uranus and Neptune are commonly considered ice giants, and it is often assumed that, in addition to a solar mix of hydrogen and helium, they contain roughly twice as much […]

a HAADF image showing region with melt bleb with large vesicles beneath it. b EDS element map shows the bleb is silicate with variable composition of elements including Ti. c HAADF image showing individual pixels in the spectra image. d Low-loss EELS from pixels noted in (c). Solid numbered lines are from pixels within vesicles while dotted lines are from pixels directly beneath each vesicle. Solid black line is from unaltered apatite and shows average low-loss signal for the phase. Spectra from each vesicle offset vertically for clarity. e Map of relative intensity of O pre-peak at 531 eV (median filter) showing the regions with smaller pre-peak around the larger vesicles and the surface region with very sharp pre-peak. The silicate and carbon coat have no pre-peak. f Selected oxygen core-loss spectra summed from regions with similar pre-peak intensity, normalized at 540 eV. The oxygen K-edge EELS show large variation around the vesicles in this region beneath the silicate melt bleb. Dotted lines indicate window used for pre-peak map. -- NRL/Nature

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Moon, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics

Hydrogen Detected In Lunar Samples

by Keith CowingNovember 24, 2023November 24, 2023

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) researchers have discovered solar-wind hydrogen in lunar samples, which indicates that water on the surface of the Moon may provide a vital resource for future […]

Early Mars

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Press Release

A Hydrogen-rich First Atmosphere For Mars Inferred From Clays On Its Surface

by Keith CowingOctober 20, 2022October 20, 2022

According to new research, Mars may have been born a blue and water-covered world, long before the Earth had even finished forming. The discovery could open a window for scientists […]