More pocked with craters than any other object in our solar system, Jupiter’s outermost and second-biggest Galilean moon, Callisto, appears geologically unremarkable. In the 1990s, however, NASA’s Galileo spacecraft captured […]
icy world
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Preparing for the 2061 Return of Halley’s Comet — A Rendezvous Mission With An Innovative Imaging System
The return of Comet 1P/Halley will promote a wide interest for ground and space observations of a celestial body of outstanding scientific and cultural interest. In addition to remote observations, […]
![Images of the trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) Pluto [left] and Arrokoth [right], the primary flyby targets of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 and 2019. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is capable of obtaining observations for in-depth studies of a wide range of TNOs that both complement, and go beyond what was learned by New Horizons. (Image credits: NASA/SwRI/JHU-APL)](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Webb-Reveals-The-Ancient-Surfaces.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Pluto, Status Report
Webb Reveals The Ancient Surfaces of Trans-Neptunian Objects
Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) are icy bodies ranging in size from Pluto and Eris (dwarf planets with diameters of about 1,500 miles) down to tens of miles (Arrokoth) and even smaller. […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Electron-induced CO2 and Hydrocarbon Sputtering of Functionalized Hydrocarbons in Icy Planetary Analogs
CO2 has been detected in both the tenuous exosphere and surface chaos regions of Europa, but it is still unclear whether this CO2 is generated in situ by radiolysis or […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
JWST Reveals Varied Origins Between Jupiter’s Irregular Satellites
We report observations of eight Jovian irregular satellites with JWST’s NIRSpec instrument: Himalia, Elara, Pasiphae, Sinope, Lysithea, Carme, Ananke, and Themisto. Irregular satellite families, which are presumed to have formed […]
Posted inAriel, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Miranda, Press Release, Uranus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean Worlds: New Study Suggests Trench-Like Features on Uranus’ Moon Ariel May Be Windows to Its Interior
Last year, a study led by planetary scientist Richard Cartwright at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, proposed that deposits of carbon dioxide ice and other […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Saturn, Status Report, Uranus
The Current Cratering Rate on the Regular Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus
We aim to compute the impact rates for objects with a diameter of 1 km onto the regular satellites of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus using our latest dynamical simulations of […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report
An Estimate Of Resident Time Of The Oort Cloud New Comets In Planetary Region
We describe the result of our numerical orbit simulation which traces dynamical evolution of new comets coming from the Oort Cloud. We combine two dynamical models for this purpose.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report
A One-Dimensional Energy Balance Model Parameterization for the Formation of CO2 Ice on the Surfaces of Eccentric Extrasolar Planets
Eccentric planets may spend a significant portion of their orbits at large distances from their host stars, where low temperatures can cause atmospheric CO2 to condense out onto the surface, […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Mars, Status Report
Martian South Polar Layered Deposits
The South Polar layered deposits are icy layers that have been deposited over millions of years, preserving a climate history of Mars. In this image the layers are well illuminated […]