If you want to build a habitable planet, ices are a vital ingredient because they are the main source of several key elements — namely carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and […]
JWST
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Effect Of Multiple Scattering On The Transmission Spectra And The Polarization Phase Curves For Earth-like Exoplanets
It is the most appropriate time to characterize the Earth-like exoplanets in order to detect biosignature beyond the Earth because such exoplanets will be the prime targets of big-budget missions […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
SwRI-Contributed Study Provides Darkest View Ever Of Interstellar Ices
An international team including Southwest Research Institute, Leiden University and NASA used observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to achieve the darkest ever view of a dense interstellar […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Polarized Signatures of a Habitable World: Comparing Models of an Exoplanet Earth with Visible and Near-infrared Earthshine Spectra
In the JWST, Extremely Large Telescopes, and LUVOIR era, we expect to characterize a number of potentially habitable Earth-like exoplanets.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Webb Discovers LHS 475 b, An Earth-Sized, Rocky Planet
Researchers have confirmed the presence of an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
A JWST Transmission Spectrum Of A Nearby Earth-sized Exoplanet
The critical first step in the search for life on exoplanets over the next decade is to determine whether rocky planets transiting small M-dwarf stars possess atmospheres and, if so, […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Variations in PAH Fraction as a Function of ISM Phase and Metallicity
We present maps tracing the fraction of dust in the form of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in IC 5332, NGC 628, NGC 1365, and NGC 7496 from JWST/MIRI observations.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Destruction of the PAH molecules in HII regions probed by JWST and MUSE
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) play a critical role in the reprocessing of stellar radiation and in balancing the heating and cooling processes in the interstellar medium (ISM), but appear to […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Hubble WFC3 Spectroscopy of the Terrestrial Planets L~98-59~c \& d: No Evidence for a Clear Hydrogen Dominated Primary Atmosphere
The nearby bright M-dwarf star L~98-59 has three terrestrial-sized planets. One challenge remaining in characterizing atmospheres around such planets is that it is not known a priori whether they possess […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
PHANGS-JWST First Results: Tracing the Diffuse ISM with JWST Imaging of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Emission in Nearby Galaxies
JWST observations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission provide some of the deepest and highest resolution views of the cold interstellar medium (ISM) in nearby galaxies.