Super-Earths present compositions dominated by refractory materials. However, there is a degeneracy in their interior structure between a planet with no atmosphere and a small Fe content, and a planet […]
JWST
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
A Water-Rich Atmosphere or Stellar Contamination for the Warm Super-Earth GJ~486b from JWST Observations
Planets orbiting M-dwarf stars are prime targets in the search for rocky exoplanet atmospheres. The small size of M dwarfs renders their planets exceptional targets for transmission spectroscopy, facilitating atmospheric […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Finds Water Vapor, But From A Rocky Planet Or Its Star?
Astronomers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to study a rocky exoplanet known as GJ 486 b. It is too close to its star to be within the habitable […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets
Detection of Carbon Monoxide’s 4.6 Micron Fundamental Band Structure In WASP-39b’s Atmosphere With JWST NIRSpec G395H
Carbon monoxide (CO) is predicted to be the dominant carbon-bearing molecule in giant planet atmospheres, and, along with water, is important for discerning the oxygen and therefore carbon-to-oxygen ratio of […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Surface Pressure Impact On Nitrogen-dominated USP Super-Earth Atmospheres
In this paper, we compare the chemistry and the emission spectra of nitrogen-dominated cool, warm, and hot ultra-short-period (USP) super-Earth atmospheres in and out of chemical equilibrium at various surface […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics
Metal-Poor Stars Are More Life-Friendly
Stars that contain comparatively large amounts of heavy elements provide less favourable conditions for the emergence of complex life than metal-poor stars, as scientists from the Max Planck Institutes for […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
JWST Looks Into The Chemical Components Of Exoplanet Formation
Researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have taken a first look at their data that probe the chemistry of the regions of disks around young stars where rocky […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
Twinkling Stars Fuel Interstellar Dust
Of the many different kinds of stars, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, usually slightly larger and older than our own sun, are known producers of interstellar dust.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Self-consistent Models of Y Dwarf Atmospheres With Water Clouds And Disequilibrium Chemistry
Y dwarfs are the coolest spectral class of brown dwarf. They have effective temperatures less than 500 K, with the coolest detection as low as ~250 K. Their spectra are […]
![TRAPPIST-1 b F1500W measured flux and spectral models. The blackbody curves represent the measured TB = 503 K dayside temperature, the 508 K apparent dayside temperature predicted for zero heat redistribution and no internal heating, and Teq = 400 K temperature for isotropic redistribution of stellar heating. The flux expected in the upcoming observations in the MIRI F1280W filter is also shown assuming the planet emits like a TB = 503 K blackbody. The widths of the F1280W and F1500W markers represent their transmission half-amplitude bandpasses, and the vertical error bar of the F1500W point represents its 1σ uncertainty. Emergent spectra from 93 bar CO2 and 10 bar outgassed O2 with 0.5 bar CO2 atmospheres are also plotted [20, 33]. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Thermal.png?resize=1200%2C731&ssl=1)
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
Thermal Emission From The Earth-sized Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b Using JWST
The TRAPPIST-1 system is remarkable for its seven planets that are similar in size, mass, density, and stellar heating to the rocky planets Venus, Earth, and Mars in our own […]