rocky exoplanet Archives

JWST Cycle 2 GO Program 3315 observations. Top image: MIRI verification image of K2-22 and its smaller companion star, at ∼2" separation. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

A Disintegrating Rocky World Shrouded in Dust and Gas: Mid-IR Observations of K2-22b using JWST

by Keith CowingJanuary 15, 2025January 15, 2025

The disintegrating ultra-short period rocky exoplanet K2-22b periodically emits dusty clouds in a dynamically chaotic process resulting in a variable transit depth from 0-1.3%.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1

The Light Of TRAPPIST-1 b Reveals New Insights On The Planet’s Nature

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2024December 16, 2024

New TRAPPIST-1 observations with JWST underscore the complexities of confirming a planet’s atmosphere using only broadband thermal emission data. This insight takes on added significance with the newly approved “Rocky […]

Maximal (red) and minimal (blue) atmospheric heating factor vs instellation, for three values of the heat redistribution parameter: f = 0.2 (solid), 0.5 (dashed), and 1 (dotted). The locations of the four planets in Table 1 considering their instellation are marked by vertical green stripes. Modified from Fig. 11 of Wandel (2018). The allowed habitable Hatm ranges of Earth, Mars and Venus for f = 1 are marked by vertical blue strips. The effective values of Hatm for these terrestrial planets are represented by blue dots. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Potential Interior Structures and Habitability of Super-Earth Exoplanets LHS 1140 b, K2-18 b, TOI-1452 b and TOI-1468 c

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2024December 12, 2024

We analyze four super-Earth exoplanets, LHS 1140 b, K2-18 b, TOI-1452 b, and TOI-1468 c, which orbit M-dwarf stars in the habitable zone.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Map Of Many Worlds: Icy And Rocky Planets

by Keith CowingDecember 9, 2024December 9, 2024

This poster visualizes over 800 known exoplanets believed to be rocky or terrestrial, arranged by the amount of heat they receive, comparing their relative sizes and providing a window to […]

Climate comparison of a non-synchronous, fast-rotating K62 planet with both synchronous planets. The non-synchronous K62 planet is warmer overall, with a surface temperature pattern that is longitudinally homogeneous. All longitudes of the planet receive sunlight over some portion of the planet’s 10-hr day, giving rise to a lower cloud fraction and a larger amount of ice contributing to the surface and TOA albedos than the synchronous planets’ (dayside) ice. This higher fraction of dayside ice on the non-synchronous planet contributes to a larger equator-to-pole temperature difference compared to either of the synchronous planets, as shown in Figure 8A. Relevant values for surface temperature, TOA albedo, and ice fraction are given in Table 2. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Increased Surface Temperatures of Habitable White Dwarf Worlds Relative to Main-Sequence Exoplanets

by Keith CowingDecember 6, 2024December 6, 2024

Discoveries of giant planet candidates orbiting white dwarf stars and the demonstrated capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope bring the possibility of detecting rocky planets in the habitable zones […]

Evolution of LP 890-9’s HZ for 10% of the 1000 trials. The pale blue curves correspond to the “early Mars” limit, dark blue to “maximum greenhouse,” orange to “runaway greenhouse” and red to “recent Venus” (Kopparapu et al. 2013). Thin curves represent individual trials, while the thick line is the average. The current orbits of planets b and c, assuming the best fit stellar mass, are shown with dashed black lines. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

History and Habitability of the LP 890-9 Planetary System

by Keith CowingDecember 5, 2024

We present numerous aspects of the evolution of the LP 890-9 (SPECULOOS-2/TOI-4306) planetary system, focusing on the likelihood that planet c can support life.

Rocky planet density and composition depends on the age of the host star. The mass and radius of small planets, colour-coded by age, alongside composition tracks from Zeng et al. (2016). The upper, light orange line corresponds to a planet with composition of 100% MgSiO3, i.e. 100% rocky mantle. The middle, dark orange line corresponds to a planet with 67.5% MgSiO3, and 32.5% Fe, providing an analogue for Earth-like composition. The lower blue line represents planets which would be composed of 100% Fe, essentially pure iron cores. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

A Link Between Rocky Exoplanet Composition And Stellar Age

by Keith CowingNovember 27, 2024November 27, 2024

Interior compositions are key for our understanding of Earth-like exoplanets. The composition of the core can influence the presence of a magnetic dynamo and the strength of gravity on the […]

Artist’s conception of the K2-360 system, showing the ultra-dense super-Earth K2-360 b (red) in its extremely close orbit around its Sun-like star, with the more distant companion K2-360 c (blue) in the background. The scorching temperatures on K2-360 b, which completes an orbit in just 21 hours, likely result in a molten or partially molten surface. Credit Astrobiology Center

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release

Ultra-dense Super-Earth With An Outer Companion Offers Clues About Its Formation

by Keith CowingNovember 25, 2024September 18, 2025

An international team led by researchers in Japan and Europe has discovered a new multi-planet system around a Sun-like star, including an ultra-short period planet with one of the highest […]

This illustration shows the seven Earth-size planets of TRAPPIST-1, an exoplanet system about 40 light-years away, based on data current as of February 2018. The image shows the planets relative sizes but does not represent their orbits to scale. The art highlights possibilities for how the surfaces of these intriguing worlds might look based on their newly-calculated properties. The seven planets of TRAPPIST-1 are all Earth-sized and terrestrial. TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool dwarf star in the constellation Aquarius, and its planets orbit very close to it. Larger image

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Rocky Planets Orbiting Small Stars Could Have Stable Atmospheres Needed To Support Life

by Keith CowingOctober 25, 2024October 25, 2024

Since its launch in late 2021, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has raised the possibility that we could detect signs of life on exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system.

The R∼300 spectrum of Archean Earth around AD Leo with a) 5-part division and b) 10-part division. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Reading Between the Rainbows: Comparative Exoplanet Characterisation through Molecule Agnostic Spectral Clustering

by Keith CowingOctober 23, 2024October 23, 2024

Rocky exoplanets are faint and difficult to observe due to their small size and low brightness compared to their host star. Despite this, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has […]

rocky exoplanet

A Disintegrating Rocky World Shrouded in Dust and Gas: Mid-IR Observations of K2-22b using JWST

The Light Of TRAPPIST-1 b Reveals New Insights On The Planet’s Nature

Potential Interior Structures and Habitability of Super-Earth Exoplanets LHS 1140 b, K2-18 b, TOI-1452 b and TOI-1468 c

A Map Of Many Worlds: Icy And Rocky Planets

Increased Surface Temperatures of Habitable White Dwarf Worlds Relative to Main-Sequence Exoplanets

History and Habitability of the LP 890-9 Planetary System

A Link Between Rocky Exoplanet Composition And Stellar Age

Ultra-dense Super-Earth With An Outer Companion Offers Clues About Its Formation

Rocky Planets Orbiting Small Stars Could Have Stable Atmospheres Needed To Support Life

Reading Between the Rainbows: Comparative Exoplanet Characterisation through Molecule Agnostic Spectral Clustering

On The Foundations Of Anthropic Reasoning: Implications For Life Across The Universe

NASA Curation Community Conversation Webinar

The Atmospheric Chemistry and Surface Interactions on Mars (ACSIOM) Workshop 2025

An ALMA View On Molecular Complexity: Water, Methanol, And Methyl Formate In The HD 100546 And IRS 48 Disks

The Occurrence of Circumbinary Planets Around TESS M-dwarf Eclipsing Binaries