![WASP-39b 3D model cross sections. Shown are the local gas temperature, Tgas [K] (left) and cloud dust-to-gas mass ratio, ρdust/ρgas (right). The values are derived from the 3D GCM results and shown as cross section across the evening (left hemisphere) and morning terminator (right hemisphere). -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Exoplanet-climate-characterization.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Space missions (CHEOPS, JWST, PLATO) facilitate detailed characterization of exoplanets. This work provides a framework to characterize cloud and climate properties of close-in gas giants via transit depth asymmetries from […]
JWST
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Sensitivity to Sub-Io-sized Exosatellite Transits In The MIRI LRS Lightcurve Of The Nearest Substellar Worlds
JWST’s unprecedented sensitivity enables precise spectrophotometric monitoring of substellar worlds, revealing atmospheric variability driven by mechanisms operating across different pressure levels.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Predicting Exoplanet Transit Yields In The Rosette Nebula With The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
Young stars host only a small fraction of the known exoplanet population because their photometric variability, magnetic activity, and frequent placement in dense, poorly-resolved regions hamper exoplanet detections.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Status Report
Horizontal And Vertical Exoplanet Thermal Structure From A JWST Spectroscopic Eclipse Map
Highly-irradiated giant exoplanets known as “ultra-hot Jupiters” are anticipated to exhibit large variations of atmospheric temperature and chemistry as a function of longitude, latitude, and altitude.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
A Deep Search For Exomoons Around WISE 0855 With JWST
JWST is collecting time-series observations of many free-floating planets (FFPs) to study their weather, but these light curves are the ideal datasets to search for exomoons that transit the FFP […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release
Revising Our Understanding Of The Most Common Planets In Our Galaxy
As telescopes have become more powerful, it’s turned out our solar system is not the only game in town: There are millions of other planets out there in the galaxy.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
A Critical Examination Of The PAH Hypothesis
The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) hypothesis proposes that the aromatic infrared bands (AIBs) observed at 3.3, 6.2, 7.7, 8.6, 11.3, and 12.7 mic originate from gas-phase PAH molecules.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
A Next-Generation Exoplanet Atmospheric Retrieval Framework NEXOTRANS for Emission Spectroscopy: New Constraints and Atmospheric Characterization of WASP-69b Using JWST NIRCam and MIRI Observations
Thermal emission spectra provide key insights into the atmospheric composition and especially the temperature structure of an exoplanet.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Interstellar, Status Report
Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS: Evidence for Galactic Cosmic Ray Processing
Spectral observations of 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) with JWST/NIRSpec and SPHEREx reveal an extreme CO2 enrichment (CO2/H2O = 7.6+-0.3) that is 4.5 sigma above solar system comet trends and among the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Conferences and Meetings, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
Hubble and Webb “Enriching the Universe: From Primordial Nucleosynthesis to Exoplanet Atmospheres” Conference
By Chris Evans — I am delighted to announce the latest in the series of ESA-sponsored conferences, in collaboration with STScI, which highlight science with Hubble and Webb. The conference, […]