[STSCI]. ESA’s Characterising Exoplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) has helped revolutionize our understanding of exoplanet science during its first six years of successful science operations by precisely measuring planet sizes and revealing […]
imaging
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Demographics of Close-In TESS Exoplanets Orbiting FGK Main-sequence Stars II. Spectral-Type Dependence and the Neptunian Landscape
[astro-ph.EP]. Understanding how planetary demographics depend on host star properties is essential for constraining planet formation and evolution theories.
Posted inAstrochemistry
Does Topology-Dependent Chemistry Influence the Interstellar PAH Inventory? Insights from the Absence of Cyanotriphenylenes
[astro-ph.GA]. Although a set of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has recently been identified in the cold dark cloud TMC-1, several common PAH motifs remain absent, leaving the origin of this […]
Posted inVenus
Communicating The Uncertainty Of Extraterrestrial Life: How The News Media Portrayed The Contested Phosphine Detection On Venus
[International Journal of Astrobiology]. The contested 2020 report of phosphine in Venus’s atmosphere triggered one of the most prominent recent debates in astrobiology, raising the possibility of extraterrestrial life while […]
![O2–O2 CIA impact on reflected-light spectra. Top: modern Earth composition (21 % O2). Bottom: otherwise identical O2-dominated composition (78 % O2), with N2 adjusted to keep total surface pressure fixed.[astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Distinguishing.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Distinguishing N2-Dominated from O2-Dominated Atmospheres on Terrestrial Exoplanets with Reflected-Light Spectroscopy
[astro-ph.EP] Reflected-light spectra of Earth-sized exoplanets promise to probe habitability and biosignatures, but interpreting atmospheric oxygen can be challenging because O2 can arise from both biological and abiotic processes.
Posted inComets and Asteroids
Uncertainty Estimation of Incoming Comet Trajectories with a Thermophysical Non-gravitational Force Model for Comet Interceptor Encounter Planning
[astro-ph.EP] The European Space Agency Comet Interceptor mission is designed to fly-by an as-yet undetermined incoming long-period or dynamically-new comet, which will require an accurate prediction of its trajectory.
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Completeness And Dynamical Stability In Exoplanet Occurrence Rates
[astro-ph.EP]. Exoplanet population studies are often quantified through the “occurrence rate” of certain types of planet.
SETI Live: Prospecting the Solar System Without Landing
What if we could identify valuable resources on other worlds without ever touching their surfaces? A proposed spacecraft concept could transform how we explore the Solar System by combining remote […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
NASA Explores Potential Commercial Servicing for Hubble Telescope
[NASA] NASA issued a Request for Information Oct. 29 to learn more about industry capabilities for in-space servicing to support the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope.
![Moment 0 maps of the transitions of CH3OH at 282213.3 MHz (Eup = 341 K, Aij = 9 × 10−7 s−1) and 281000.1 MHz (Eup = 191 K, Aij = 4 × 10−5 s−1), 13CH3OH at 283207.3 MHz (two transitions with Eup = 95 and 110 K, Aij = 7 × 10−5 s−1), CH18 3 OH at 309979.3 MHz (Eup = 77 K, Aij = 3 × 10−4 s−1 ), CH3OD at 291412.8 MHz (Eup = 161 K, Aij = 1 × 10−4 s−1 ), CH2DOH at 279335.7 MHz (Eup = 132 K, Aij = 3 × 10−5 s−1 ), CHD2OH at 296460.6 MHz (Eup = 108 K, Aij = 7 × 10−5 s−1 ), and CD3OH at 305957.8 MHz (Eup = 163 K, Aij = 2 × 10−4 s−1 ). The integration was done between -9 and 0 km s−1. The continuum peak (C) and the blueshifted (B) and the redshifted (R) positions are indicated with crosses. The directions of the blueshifted and redshifted outflows are indicated with cyan and orange arrows, respectively. The 0,0 position is the continuum peak position. [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/complex.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) III. CH3OH isotopic fractionation in the low-mass protostar BHR71-IRS1
[astro-ph.GA]. [Abridged] Methanol is a complex organic molecule detected in both ice and gas toward star-forming regions. Due to its high abundance, its rarer isotopologues, including the deuterated ones, are […]