JWST Archives

Qualitative projections of the best-fit three-dimensional spherical-harmonic model to the jointly decomposed first spatial mode, u(1), derived from three viewing geometries of Europa’s leading hemisphere. (e) Water-ice 3.1 µm Fresnel peak (ℓmax = 6). (g) CO2 absorption doublet near 4.25 µm (ℓmax = 7). Shaded outlines mark Tara, Powys, and the leading-hemisphere part of Annwn Regiones. The left panels show jointly decomposed spectral modes (v(0) and v(1) in gray and black, respectively) and spectra from the spaxels where the joint spatial mode peaks (blue) and reaches its minimum (red). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report

Spectral Decomposition Reveals Surface Processes on Europa

by Keith CowingMarch 16, 2026March 16, 2026

Competing processes shape Europa’s surface: geological activity replenishes material through resurfacing, while bombardment by charged particles alters surface chemical composition. Each process leaves distinct spectral signatures.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

STScI Announces the JWST Cycle 5 General Observer Program

by Keith CowingMarch 15, 2026March 15, 2026

STScI announces the selection of 254 JWST General Observer (GO) programs for Cycle 5. This follows the review of 2,855 submitted proposals by the JWST Telescope Allocation Committee, which made […]

Blue and red Shane/Kast optical spectrum of TOI-4616 (black line) compared to the best-fit M4 SDSS spectral template from Bochanski et al. (2007, magenta line). Key spectral features are indicated, including regions of strong telluric absorption (⊕). The inset box shows the 6520–6770 ˚𝐴 region encompassing the strong 6563 ˚𝐴 H𝛼 emission line and absent 6708 ˚𝐴 Li i absorption. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

TOI-4616 b: A Benchmark Earth-sized Planet Transiting A Nearby M4 Dwarf

by Keith CowingMarch 14, 2026March 14, 2026

Rocky exoplanets are particularly abundant around M-type stars. Their small radii and low luminosities provide favourable conditions for detecting transiting terrestrial planets and probing their atmospheric properties.

Best-fit orbit solutions. Here we show the on-sky orbit traced by Eps Ind Ab in panel (a); the evolution of on-sky separation and position angle of the planet during our observational baseline in panels

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

A Second Visit To Eps Ind Ab With JWST: New Photometry Confirms Ammonia And Suggests Thick Clouds In The Exoplanet Atmosphere Of The Closest Super-Jupiter

by Keith CowingMarch 12, 2026March 12, 2026

With JWST, we are directly imaging cold (~200-300K), solar-age giant exoplanets for the first time.

The absorption cross sections of common absorbers in exoplanet atmospheres considered in this work, shown at a pressure and temperature of 0.1 mbar and 1000 K. The wavelength coverage of Pandora’s NIR detector (NIRDA), JWST’s NIRCam F322W2 and F444W filters, and HST’s WFC3 instrument (for the G141 grism) are shown. Pandora/NIRDA covers absorption bands of H2O, CH4, NH3 and the wing of the K doublet, making it most sensitive to these absorbers. -- NASA

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cubesats and smallsats, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

NASA’s Pandora SmallSat Mission: Simulated Modeling and Retrieval of Near-Infrared Exoplanet Transmission Spectra

by Keith CowingMarch 9, 2026March 9, 2026

Pandora is a SmallSat mission dedicated to understanding exoplanets and their host stars by disentangling the impact of stellar heterogeneity on exoplanet transmission spectra.

Additional analysis for the tentative cross-correlation signal observed for H2S. We show the cross-correlation S/N as a function of the orbital parameters of the planet. In each case, the expected parameters are marked with crosshairs. Left: The S/N is shown as a function of planetary velocity space, parameterised by 𝐾p and 𝑉sys, reproduced from the top panel of Figure 3 but with a more zoomed in colorscale. A tentative peak with a S/N of 1.7 is observed at the expected systemic velocity. Right: the time duration of the observed H2S cross-correlation signal is constrained with a value that is consistent with the literature value for the transit duration of the planet. This is measured by varying the number of spectra considered to be in-transit (𝑁in) when calculating the cross-correlation S/N, with 𝐾p fixed to that expected for this planet. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Ground-based Atmospheric Characterization of Super-Earth L 98-59 d at High Spectral Resolution

by Keith CowingMarch 8, 2026March 8, 2026

Atmospheric characterization of exoplanets using ground-based high-resolution transmission spectroscopy has traditionally focussed on large and close-in planets, such as hot Jupiters.

Normalized TESS light curve. The 45 967 individual photometric points are shown in grey. The purple line shows the 30 minute binned flux. The transits of TOI-1080 b are marked by the pink triangles. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

TOI-1080 b: A Temperate, Rocky Planet Orbiting A Quiet M4V Host

by Keith CowingMarch 4, 2026March 4, 2026

We present the detection and validation of a small, temperate transiting exoplanet orbiting TOI-1080 every 3.9652482+0.0000014−0.0000015 days. The host is a quiet M4V star at 25.6 pc.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Status Report

JWST Users Committee Meeting – Rocky Worlds Director’s Discretionary Program

by Keith CowingMarch 1, 2026March 1, 2026

The JWST Users Committee (JSTUC) met in person in Baltimore on December 2 and 3, 2025. Presentations included updates on the overall status of the mission, the JWST pipeline, the […]

Recovery of an injected signal for the cloud-free case of V1298 Tau b on a vrest − KP grid for each synthetic night simulated using Ratri for the case of (top row) the optimistic detrending scenario and (bottom row) the non-reprocessing scenario where the SVD+MLR based detrending is followed by cross-correlation with a template model with no reprocessing performed on it. The injected signal is successfully detected in all three nights for the optimistic detrending scenario. For the non-reprocessing scenario, the injected signal is successfully detected only in Night 3 but with weaker constraints on KP compared to the optimistic detrending case. For the other two nights, the signal is either completely removed by the detrending scenario resulting in a non-detection (Night 1) or a detection at a much higher value of KP compared to the injected value (Night2). For more discussion about confidence intervals and what constitutes a detection, please see Section 2.4.3. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Probing The Atmospheres Of Young Long-Period Sub-Neptune Progenitors With ELT/ANDES

by Keith CowingMarch 1, 2026March 1, 2026

High-resolution cross-correlation spectroscopy (HRCCS) has emerged as a powerful technique for detecting and characterizing exoplanet atmospheres from the ground.

Free retrieval results (top two panels) and cross sections of considered chemical species (bottom two panels) from our investigation of the 3.17 µm feature. Free retrievals were conducted on the combined Tiberius (top, blue) and Eureka! (middle-top, pink) reductions. The 1σ range in retrieved spectra are shown in the colored bands for all considered species (red), all species except C2H2 and C2H4 (yellow), all species except for C2H2, C2H4, and C3 (green), all species except for C2H2, C2H4, C3, and NH3 (dark blue), and only the common species (H2O, CH4, CO2, CO, SO2, and H2S; light pink). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

JWST COMPASS: A NIRSpec G395H Transmission Spectrum of Radius Valley-Dweller TOI-260 b

by Keith CowingFebruary 28, 2026February 28, 2026

We present a JWST/NIRSpec G395H transmission spectrum of TOI-260 b, a Teq∼490 K, Rp=1.76R⊕ planet.

JWST

Spectral Decomposition Reveals Surface Processes on Europa

STScI Announces the JWST Cycle 5 General Observer Program

TOI-4616 b: A Benchmark Earth-sized Planet Transiting A Nearby M4 Dwarf

A Second Visit To Eps Ind Ab With JWST: New Photometry Confirms Ammonia And Suggests Thick Clouds In The Exoplanet Atmosphere Of The Closest Super-Jupiter

NASA’s Pandora SmallSat Mission: Simulated Modeling and Retrieval of Near-Infrared Exoplanet Transmission Spectra

Ground-based Atmospheric Characterization of Super-Earth L 98-59 d at High Spectral Resolution

TOI-1080 b: A Temperate, Rocky Planet Orbiting A Quiet M4V Host

JWST Users Committee Meeting – Rocky Worlds Director’s Discretionary Program

Probing The Atmospheres Of Young Long-Period Sub-Neptune Progenitors With ELT/ANDES

JWST COMPASS: A NIRSpec G395H Transmission Spectrum of Radius Valley-Dweller TOI-260 b

Early-career Graduate Students Host An Exclusive, NASA-funded Astrobiology Conference

Intimate Link Between Prebiotic Chemistry And Meteorites: Mechanisms Of Organic Molecule Formation

Microbial Mats Influence The Isotopic Composition And Provenance of Soil Organic Matter In The McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Beyond The Prebiotic Soup: Solid Organic Films And Protocell-Like Formation in Prebiotic Discharge Experiments

From Searching For Extraterrestrial Biosignatures To Exploring The Origins Of Life: A Prebiotic Chemistry Perspective