KBO Archives - Astrobiology

SPHEREx Pre-Perihelion Mapping

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

SPHEREx Pre-Perihelion Mapping of H2O, CO2, and CO in Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

by Keith CowingDecember 9, 2025December 9, 2025

From 01- to 15-Aug-2025 UT, the SPHEREx spacecraft observed interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. Using R=40-130 spectrophotometry at λ=0.7-5μm, light curves, spectra, and imaging of 3I were obtained.

Disk reflectance spectra at different stellocentric distances.

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Water Ice In The Debris Disk Around HD 181327

by Keith CowingMay 15, 2025September 18, 2025

Debris disks are exoplanetary systems that contain planets, minor bodies (i.e., asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, etc.), and micron-sized debris dust.

Frozen Water in Young Star System HD 181327 -- NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Webb Identifies Frozen Water in Young Star System HD 181327

by Keith CowingMay 14, 2025May 15, 2025

Is frozen water scattered in systems around other stars? Astronomers have long expected it is, partially based on previous detections of its gaseous form, water vapor, and its presence in […]

Eris -- NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Primordial Origin of Methane on Eris and Makemake Supported by D/H Ratios

by Keith CowingMarch 26, 2025March 26, 2025

Deuterium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen, is a key tracer of the formation of the Solar System. Recent JWST observations have expanded the dataset of D/H ratios in methane on […]

The predicted uncompressed density of the Pluto-Charon system (colored curves) as the fraction of the protosolar C inventory contained in refractory organics increases from 0% to 100%, assuming the canonical protosolar abundances in Lodders 2021 (L21, see Table 1). The horizontal black dashed line represents the average uncompressed density of the system ∼ 1800 kg m−3 (Barr & Schwamb 2016; McKinnon et al. 2017), taken to be the most representative value we have for the bulk composition of large KBOs. The gray area shows the 3σ uncertainty (± 20 kg m−3 , Brozovi´c et al. 2015, McKinnon et al. 2017, Nimmo et al. 2017). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

A Broad Set of Solar and Cosmochemical Data Indicates High C-N-O Abundances For Our Solar System

by Keith CowingSeptember 16, 2024September 16, 2024

We examine the role of refractory organics as a major C carrier in the outer protosolar nebula and its implications for the compositions of large Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) and […]

Artist’s concept of a collision between two objects in the distant Kuiper Belt. Such collisions are a major source of dust in the belt, along with particles kicked up from Kuiper Belt objects being peppered by microscopic dust impactors from outside of the solar system. Credit: Dan Durda, FIAAA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Pluto, Press Release

Astrogeology/Astrochemistry/Astrobiology Update: New Horizons Detects Dusty Hints Of An Extended Kuiper Belt

by Keith CowingFebruary 20, 2024February 20, 2024

New observations from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft hint that the Kuiper Belt – the vast, distant outer zone of our solar system populated by hundreds of thousands of icy, rocky […]