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 […]
Photochemistry
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The First Remotely Detected Biosignature May Not Be the Most Common: Implications for JWST and HWO
The first detected member of a new astronomical class is often not representative of the underlying population, but instead reflects the selection effects of the observing technique that found it.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1
Coupled Photochemical-Climate Modeling of Plausible Tenuous Outgassed Atmospheres on the TRAPPIST-1 Planets
Available JWST observations TRAPPIST-1 system have suggested that several of the planets are likely airless, or possess a very tenuous atmosphere.
Posted inBiophysics, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report
Flare-driven Habitability: Expanding Life’s Potential Around Low-mass Stars
The traditional definition of the circumstellar habitable zone (HZ) focuses on liquid water, but neglects the crucial role of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in prebiotic chemistry.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Toward Inferring the Surface Fluxes of Biosignature Gases on Rocky Exoplanets from Telescope Spectra
The James Webb Space Telescope and the future Habitable Worlds Observatory aim to discover exoplanet atmospheric spectra that detect life. Currently, most existing spectral “retrieval” algorithms focus on inferring the […]
![2D color map as a function of Teq and [M/H]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Sub-Neptunes-as-Soot.png?resize=1200%2C710&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Sub-Neptunes As Soot Factories: Deep Atmosphere Hydrocarbon Formation and Quenching as the Origin of Sub-Neptune Aerosol Trends
Recent population-level studies of sub-Neptune atmospheres have identified a parabolic trend in transmission spectrum amplitude for planets with Teq ~ 500-800 K. While the trend has been commonly attributed to […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Plant Biology, Status Report
Photosynthetic Exergy I. Thermodynamic Limits For Habitable-zone Planets
Photosynthesis is central to Earth’s biosphere and a prime candidate for sustaining complex life on habitable exoplanets, yet a thermodynamically consistent treatment of the work potential of stellar radiation at […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report
Investigating the High-energy Radiation Environment of Planets in Sun-like Binary Systems
Far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation is a driving source of photochemistry in planetary atmospheres. Proper interpretation of atmospheric observations requires a full understanding of the radiation environment that a planet is exposed […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release
Photochemistry Of Interstellar Ice Forming Complex Organic Molecules
Processes expected to play a role in interstellar ice are simulated in the laboratory. Energetic photons and ions lead to fragmentation or desorption of molecules from the ice. The end […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Detectability of Atmospheric Biosignatures in Earth Analogs with Varying Surface Boundary Conditions: Prospects for Characterization in the UV, Visible, Near-Infrared, and Mid-Infrared Regions
The search for potentially habitable exoplanets centers on detecting biosignature molecules in Earth-like atmospheres, which makes it essential to understand their detectability under biologically and geologically influenced conditions.