Observing and characterizing young planetary systems can aid in unveiling the evolutionary mechanisms that sculpt the mature exoplanet population.
mini-Neptunes
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Webb Telescope Finds A Potentially Habitable Icy World
A international team of astronomers led by Université de Montréal has made an exciting discovery about the temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b: it could be a promising “super-Earth” covered in […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Transmission Spectroscopy of the Habitable Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140 b with JWST/NIRISS
LHS 1140 b is the second-closest temperate transiting planet to the Earth with an equilibrium temperature low enough to support surface liquid water.
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
The Prevalence of Resonance Among Young, Close-in Planets
Multiple planets undergoing disk migration may be captured into a chain of mean-motion resonances with the innermost planet parked near the disk’s inner edge. Subsequent dynamical evolution may disrupt these […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
Photo-dynamical Characterisation Of The TOI-178 Resonant Chain
The TOI-178 system consists of a nearby late K-dwarf transited by six planets in the super-Earth to mini-Neptune regime, with radii ranging from 1.2 to 2.9 earth radius and orbital […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Citizen Science / Open Science, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Planet Hunters TESS V: A Planetary System Around A Binary Star, Including A mini-Neptune In The Habitable Zone
We report on the discovery and validation of a transiting long-period mini-Neptune orbiting a bright (V = 9.0 mag) G dwarf (TOI 4633; R = 1.05 RSun, M = 1.10 […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
Do Temperate Rocky Planets Around M Dwarfs have an Atmosphere?
Detecting an atmosphere on nearby temperate planets is one of the most important scientific objectives of the Webb mission, an endeavour in practice limited to a handful of well-characterized planets: […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
TOI-4438 b: A Transiting Mini-Neptune Amenable To Atmospheric Characterization
We report the confirmation and mass determination of a mini-Neptune transiting the M3.5 V star TOI-4438 (G 182-34) every 7.44 days. A transit signal was detected with NASA’s TESS space […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
The Occurrence Of Small, Short-period Planets Younger Than 200 Myr With TESS
Within the first few hundreds of millions of years, many physical processes sculpt the eventual properties of young planets. NASA’s TESS mission has surveyed young stellar associations across the entire […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
Young Earth-like Planet With Lava Oceans
Astronomers have discovered an extreme Earth-like planet that likely hosts lava oceans as it roasts next to its sun-like star near the Big Dipper constellation.