Neptune’s moon Triton has two remarkable attributes: its retrograde orbit suggests that it was captured from the Kuiper Belt, and Triton has one of the youngest surfaces of all the […]
Neptune
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report
Mapping The Exo-Neptunian Landscape. A Ridge Between The Desert And Savanna
Atmospheric and dynamical processes are thought to play a major role in shaping the distribution of close-in exoplanets. A striking feature of such distribution is the Neptunian desert, a dearth […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Neptune, Press Release
Hidden Exoplanets Between The Neptunian Desert And Savanna
Astronomers have uncovered the ‘‘Neptunian Ridge’’, a newly identified feature in the distribution of exoplanets. This discovery, led by an international team including members of the University of Geneva, The […]
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Astrogeology, Beta Pictoris, Ceres, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto, Proxima Centauri, Saturn, Status Report, tau Ceti, TRAPPIST-1, Uranus, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Classifications For Exoplanet and Exoplanetary Systems
When a star is described as a spectral class G2V, we know its approximate mass, temperature, age, and size. At more than 5,700 exoplanets discovered, it is a natural developmental […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus
Storms and Convection on Uranus and Neptune: Impact of Methane Abundance Revealed by a 3D Cloud-resolving Model
Uranus and Neptune have atmospheres dominated by molecular hydrogen and helium. In the upper troposphere, methane is the third main molecule and condenses, yielding a vertical gradient in CH4. This […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Neptune, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Volatile-rich Sub-Neptunes as Hydrothermal Worlds: The Case of K2-18 b
Temperate exoplanets between the sizes of Earth and Neptune, known as “sub-Neptunes”, have emerged as intriguing targets for astrobiology. It is unknown whether these planets resemble Earth-like terrestrial worlds with […]
Posted inIcy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Twin Worlds, Divergent Fates: How Obliquity has Differently Shaped Pluto’s and Triton’s Landscapes and Climates
Triton and Pluto are believed to share a common origin, both forming initially in the Kuiper Belt but Triton being later captured by Neptune. Both objects display similar sizes, densities, […]
![Reprocessed images of Uranus [L]] and Neptune [R] NASA/JPL-Caltech (Uranus and Neptune); “Modelling the Seasonal Cycle of Uranus’s Colour and Magnitude, and Comparison with Neptune,” by Patrick G. J. Irwin et al., in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 527, No. 4; February 2024 (reprocessed images)](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Insights-on-the-Formation-Condition.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus
Insights on the Formation Conditions of Uranus and Neptune from their Deep Elemental Compositions
This study, placed in the context of the preparation for the Uranus Orbiter Probe mission, aims to predict the bulk volatile compositions of Uranus and Neptune. Using a protoplanetary disk […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Pluto, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Triton and Pluto: Same Origin But Separated At Birth [Two Possible Ocean Worlds]
Assessing the origin of Pluto and Triton has profound implications for the bigger picture of Solar System formation and evolution.
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Status Report, Uranus
Uranus And Neptune As Methane Planets: Producing Icy Giants From Refractory Planetesimals
Uranus and Neptune are commonly considered ice giants, and it is often assumed that, in addition to a solar mix of hydrogen and helium, they contain roughly twice as much […]