[NASA] NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) space telescope is shedding light on brown dwarfs, celestial objects that blur the line […]
Spectroscopy
![The Target Pixel File (TPF) of HS 0209+0832 from the TESS observations in Sector 71. The SPOC pipeline aperture is overplotted with shaded red squares. The position of HS 0209+0832 is demarcated by the number “1” and a white cross. All nearby sources within ∆m = 4 are displayed as red circles, with their size proportional to their brightness relative to HS 0209+0832. Each source is labelled by the rank of their projected distances from HS 0209+0832. The white arrows denote the orientation of the spacecraft during the observations. This figure was created with tpfplotter121 -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Discovery-of-a.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Discovery Of A Second-generation Planet Candidate Accreting Onto A White Dwarf
[astro-ph.EP] Many white dwarfs accrete the debris of disrupted planetary bodies, detected in the form of metal-enrichment in their atmospheres, dusty or gaseous circumstellar discs, and photometric transits from debris.
![The on-sky geometry of the Anti-Solar Point (ASP), the ecliptic, and the synthesized beams of the ATA-ASP campaign. See the pilot paper by Sheikh and Hort et al. 2026 for full detail [1]. -- [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-Technosignature.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inSETI & Technosignatures
A Technosignature Survey Of The Anti-Solar Point: The SETI Institute’s Largest-Ever Campaign With The Allen Telescope Array
[astro-ph.IM] The ATA-ASP campaign is a radio technosignature survey of the Anti-Solar Point as a “Schelling point”, using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Posted inAstrochemistry
Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) II. Approach To Data Reduction And Products For Line-rich Broadband (sub)millimeter Spectra
[astro-ph.SR] Studying the chemical composition of the warm gas surrounding embedded solar-type protostars is one of the areas for which the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is particularly well suited.
![Column density maps of 13CO2, CO and OCN− ice (panel I, II and III, respectively). 12CO2 column densities are derived from 13CO2 column densities. Panel IV shows the ratio between the 4.38 µm and 4.39 µm peak of the 13CO2 ice feature. A higher ratio indicates higher degree of CO2 ice segregation. The axes are shown on astronomical unit scales. Pixelated areas especially in the north and south of the maps as well as the edges are caused by low signal-to-noise levels. -- [astro-ph.SR]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Mapping.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Mapping Of Interstellar Ices With JWST In Protostellar Envelopes: Spatial Variations Of 13CO2, 12CO2, CO, OCN− and H2O ice
[astro-ph.SR] The composition of planets and their atmospheres is largely determined by the formation environment of the planet. This environment is pre-determined during early stages when the protostar is still […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes
An Analytic Error-Budget Model for the Habitable Worlds Observatory Coronagraph: From Optical Disturbances to Flux-Ratio Noise
[astro-ph.IM] A coronagraph stability allocation must protect a planet measurement, not merely satisfy a contrast target. Residual starlight both generates photon noise and interferes with small field perturbations, coupling optical […]
![Moment 0 maps of the molecular lines. (d) rms = 0.005 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (3, 4, 5, 6 σ); (e) rms = 0.0077 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 σ); (f) rms = 0.009 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (5, 7, 9, 11 σ); (g) rms = 0.0039 Jy beam−1 km s−1 (3, 4, 5 σ). Close-up images of each panel are shown below. These regions are indicated by a white dashed square in panel (a). Color scales are adjusted for the close-up ones. The black and white contours are the continuum map same as in the right panel of Figure 1. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-Cyanopolyyne.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
A Cyanopolyyne-rich But COM-poor Massive Protostar: The First Hot Carbon Chain Chemistry Source G28.28-0.36
[astro-ph.GA] We present molecular emission line data from the massive young stellar object (MYSO) G28.28-0.36 (G28.28) obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3. Cyanopolyynes (HC3N and HC5N) and […]
Posted inAstrogeology
A JWST Study Oof Stardust. II. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Comet 81P/Wild 2 And Implications For Primitive Solar System Carbon
[astro-ph.EP] We report observations of comet 81P/Wild 2, target of the Stardust sample return mission, on UT 2023 March 20 and 24 at a heliocentric distance (rH) of 1.85 au […]
Posted inTitan
Oxidation Of Photochemical Organic Hazes: A Prebiotic Source of Oxygen-Bearing Organics in Titan’s Atmosphere And Early Earth?
[Astrobiology via PubMed]. Photochemical organic hazes such as those found in the atmosphere of Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, are mainly composed of reduced chemical components.
Posted inFossils & Paleontology
Protocells Reproduce Morphological And Chemical Signatures Of Early Microfossils
[biorxiv.org] Identification of early microfossils relies on morphological and chemical criteria assumed to be unique to life, but whether abiotic microstructures can satisfy these criteria has not been rigorously tested.