Present-day Venus, similar to Earth in terms of relative radius, acceleration of gravity and mean density, is characterised by a very strong greenhouse effect and full cloud cover.
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, possesses a dense N2–CH4 atmosphere driving complex organic chemistry. The interplay among photochemistry, aerosol formation, organic cloud condensation, and surface deposition makes Titan a natural laboratory […]
Studying asteroids addresses a number of unknowns in planetary science. Investigating them makes use of asteroidal meteorites, remote observations and space-based missions.
The modern Martian surface is cold, dry, oxidizing, and perpetually bombarded with radiation, rendering it generally inhospitable to life as we know it.
Microbial productivity, metabolite fluxes, nutrient cycling and biosignatures are directly linked to microbial growth rates, which remain largely unknown in subsurface environments.
The recent discovery of all five canonical nucleobases in samples from Bennu provides compelling evidence that some of life’s ingredients were synthesized abiotically in the parent body of this asteroid […]
Multiple controversial scenarios have been proposed explaining the emergence of life, both from environmental and chemical perspectives.
The Galaxy’s most common known planetary systems have several Earth-to-Neptune-size planets in compact orbits. At small orbital separations, larger planets are less common than their smaller counterparts by an order […]
The Cassini mission provided unprecedented insights into Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, from its atmosphere to the deep interior.
Nitrogen-containing organic compounds play key biological roles, and their identification in primitive astromaterials such as meteorites can shed light on the origin of life.
