![Latitude-longitude maps of column-integrated water clouds (panels a, b and c), outgoing longwave radiation (OLR, panels d, e and f) and albedo at the top of the atmosphere (TOA albedo, panels g, h and i) for Cases 2A, 2B and 2C. The variables are averaged over ∼50 orbits. The dashed white line on the albedo color bar corresponds to the surface albedo.-- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/A-broad.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
[astro-ph.EP] VLT/RISTRETTO, ELT/ANDES and ELT/PCS will soon enable atmospheric characterization of non-transiting, small rocky exoplanets orbiting closer than the inner edge of the Habitable Zone around M dwarfs, combining high-contrast […]
rocky exoplanet
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
SCoRE: The Surface Composition Of Rocky Exoplanets
[astro-ph.EP] Context. The crust composition of rocky exoplanets with a substantial atmosphere can not be observed directly. However, recent developments are starting to allow for the observation and characterisation of […]
Posted inVenus
Venus: Dead? Far From It
[ETH Zurich] Simulations conducted by researchers at ETH Zurich suggest a strong likelihood that Venus’s rift valleys are still geologically active rather than being mere relics of a bygone era, […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Growing Planets Produce Extreme Dust Signatures
[astro-ph.EP] Collisions between planetary bodies are essential to the assembly of rocky planets like the Earth, but they are extremely difficult to observe. We therefore rely on indirect signatures of […]
![Sky coverage of the final sample of 1341 planet-hosting stars (yellow markers) shown in Galactic coordinates overlaid on the 2MASS near-infrared map (courtesy of ESA/Gaia/DPAC). The prominent overdensity corresponds to the Kepler mission (Borucki et al. 2010) footprint. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Probing-the-origins.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Probing The Origins. III. Exoplanet Demographics Across Galactic Birth Radii
[astro-ph.GA] We quantify radial mixing in exoplanet hosts and explore links between birth environment, orbital evolution, planetary architecture, and Galactic habitability. We constructed a homogeneous catalogue by cross-matching the Encyclopaedia […]
![Models of mass-loss rate, outflow temperature, and H:He ratio for LHS 1140b in 2024. (A) Models of atmospheric mass-loss rate as a function of outflow temperature, 𝑇wind. Color indicates the normalized likelihood calculation, where zero corresponds to the maximum likelihood. Black contours indicate 1𝜎 and 3𝜎 derivations from the maximum likelihood. Data points with 1𝜎 error bars are the best-fitting values from the MCMC analysis of the 2024 spectrum of LHS 1140b, assuming an SED normalized to GJ 699 (black) or GJ 1132 (green). All models assumed the GJ 1132-normalized SED and fixed 𝑣wind the best-fitting value from the MCMC analysis. The dashed gray line shows a theoretical upper limit on the escape rate (see text). The dashed red line shows the theoretical minimum escape rate required to drag atomic oxygen in the outflow. The dashed black and green lines show the energy-limited escape rates calculated with the SEDs normalized by GJ 699 and GJ 1132, respectively. (B) Same as panel A, but as a function of the H:He ratio. Data points with dotted error bars assumed 10 times higher stellar XUV flux. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Helium-escaping.png?resize=1200%2C711&ssl=1)
Posted inHabitable Zones
Helium Escaping From The Atmosphere Of A Nearby Rocky Exoplanet Orbiting In A Habitable Zone
[astro-ph.EP] Observations of highly irradiated gas giant exoplanets have shown helium escaping from their atmospheres. There is limited evidence for atmospheres on rocky exoplanets, perhaps because they have already escaped.
Posted inHabitable Zones
Detected: Rocky, Habitable-zone Exoplanet With An Atmosphere
[Carnegie Science] A team of scientists led by Harvard University’s Collin Cherubim and including Shreyas Vissapragada and other Carnegie astronomers has detected evidence of an atmosphere on a rocky planet […]
![Cartoon illustrating the effect of the runaway greenhouse transition on atmospheric composition for two rocky planets with identical He, H2O and CO2 inventories. With a thin He atmosphere, planets below the runaway greenhouse limit (right) will have He-rich upper atmospheres and may support surface liquid water. For planets inside the inner edge of the habitable zone (left), H2O from liquid water oceans and CO2 from carbonates are transported into the atmosphere, dramatically decreasing the scale height and making the transit spectrum of the planet flatter. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Climates-of-temperate.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Climates Of Temperate Rocky Planets With He-dominated Atmospheres
[astro-ph.EP] We present radiative-convective modeling of rocky exoplanets with He-dominated atmospheres and low envelope mass fractions. Helium has a steeper adiabatic temperature profile than N2 and H2 as it has […]
![Geometry of the LTT 3780 planetary system at the time of our radio technosignature observations. The left panel shows the sky-plane (X–Y) view as seen from Earth, while the right panel shows the top-down (X–Z) view of the system. The orbits of planets b (blue) and c (green) are shown relative to the host star (yellow). Our observations from the ATA, mentioned in Table 1 on 5th November 2025, were timed to coincide with a planet–planet occultation (PPO), when planet b passes behind planet c along the line of sight, providing a unique configuration to search for radio technosignatures during mutual planetary alignment.-- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/A-Search-For.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
A Search For Narrowband Technosignatures From LTT 3780 With The Allen Telescope Array And The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array
[astro-ph.IM] The LTT3780 system hosts two known exoplanets-LTT3780b, a rocky super-Earth, and LTT3780c, a temperate sub-Neptune-orbiting a nearby M dwarf on opposite sides of the radius valley. LTT3780c has been […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
First Completed Rocky Worlds Program Observations Open New Era in Exoplanet Studies
[STScI] Scientists leading the astronomy community’s most ambitious effort to study rocky planets outside of our solar system have reached a major milestone.