super Earth Archives - Page 4 of 20 - Astrobiology

Known potentially-rocky exoplanets within 20 pc. The vast majority of the closest planets are non-transiting and their atmospheres cannot be characterized with currently-available techniques. Data from the NASA Exoplanet Archive, accessed on 2026-02-06. -- astro-ph.EP

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

A New Strategy For Using Spectroscopic Phase Curves to Characterize Non-Transiting Planets

by Keith CowingFebruary 10, 2026

We introduce a new time-series analysis strategy for combined-light exoplanet spectroscopic phase curves called the Variable Planetary Infrared Excess (VPIE) method. VPIE can be used to extract information about the […]

A planet with a magma ocean -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report

The Effects Of Non-ideal Mixing In Planetary Magma Oceans And Atmospheres

by Keith CowingFebruary 8, 2026February 8, 2026

Sub-Neptunes with hydrogen-rich envelopes are expected to sustain long-lived magma oceans that continuously exchange volatiles with their overlying atmospheres. Capturing these interactions is key to understanding the chemical evolution and […]

Cartoon illustration of the hybrid models. The difference between HM-U and HM-C is in the first step, where the initial planet masses and radii are drawn (HMC draws clustered initial masses as in §2.2.2, while HM-U does not). The planets are also assigned envelope masses in this step. The planets are then subject to photoevaporation and some lose their gaseous envelopes, resulting in the final masses and radii (§2.2.3). Finally, the critical AMD of the system is computed and distributed among the individual planets to draw their orbital eccentricities and mutual inclinations, as in the H20 model. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Architectures of Exoplanetary Systems. IV: A Multi-planet Model for Reproducing the Radius Valley and Intra-system Size Similarity of Planets around Kepler’s FGK Dwarfs

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2026January 30, 2026

The Kepler-observed distribution of planet sizes have revealed two distinct patterns: (1) a radius valley separating super-Earths and sub-Neptunes and (2) a preference for intra-system size similarity.

Time series of RV and activity indicators.

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

The RoPES Project With HARPS and HARPS-N II. A Third Planet In The Multi-planet System HD 176986

by Keith CowingJanuary 29, 2026January 29, 2026

Context. Earth-like planets orbiting in the habitable zone of K- to G-type stars create an RV effect in amplitude of less than 1 m s−1 and have orbital periods of […]

Mass mixing ratios and condensate/cloud of the O2/CO2 atmosphere - model 5. The 15 major gas phase species are shown in the left hand side column and the solid and liquid species in the right hand side column.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Hot And cloudy: High Temperature Clouds In Super-Earths And Sub-Neptunes

by Keith CowingJanuary 26, 2026January 26, 2026

JWST observations provide for the first time evidence for an atmosphere on a rocky exoplanet – 55 Cnc e. The atmosphere of 55 Cnc e is hot with Teq>2000K and […]

Deep layers of molten rock inside some super-earths could generate powerful magnetic fields—potentially stronger than Earth’s—and help shield these exoplanets from harmful radiation. (University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics illustration / Michael Franchot)

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Radiation

Hidden Magma Oceans Could Shield Rocky Exoplanets From Harmful Radiation

by Keith CowingJanuary 21, 2026January 21, 2026

Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from dangerous […]

The posteriors were derived by applying the planetary evolution and mass loss framework of ref. 32 to our measured masses and radii for planets c (red), d (orange), b (green) and e (blue). Left, initial envelope mass fraction versus core mass. Right, initial Kelvin–Helmholtz cooling timescale versus core mass. Contours show the 1σ and 2σ credible regions. (Note that the jagged appearance of some contours is a numerical artefact of the discrete core mass grid used in our analysis; see Methods for more details). The vertical dotted line in the right panel at 10 Myr marks the approximate upper limit for standard high-entropy formation models. These models are strongly disfavoured for the inner planets c and d, whereas for the less-irradiated outer planets b and e, the method lacks the statistical power to distinguish between high- and low-entropy scenarios. -- Nature

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

A Young Progenitor For The Most Common Planetary Systems In The Galaxy

by Keith CowingJanuary 16, 2026January 16, 2026

The Galaxy’s most common known planetary systems have several Earth-to-Neptune-size planets in compact orbits. At small orbital separations, larger planets are less common than their smaller counterparts by an order […]

Artist’s impression of four orbiting exoplanets. Intense radiation from the host star may be heating their puffy atmospheres, causing atmospheric escape into space. (Credit: Astrobiology Center)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Astronomers Find Missing Link To Our Galaxy’s Most Common Planets

by Keith CowingJanuary 8, 2026January 8, 2026

One of the biggest recent surprises in astronomy is the discovery that most stars like the Sun harbor a planet between the size of Earth and Neptune within the orbit […]

Multi-color ground-based light curves for our five targets. Data points represent 10-minute binned photometry, with light curves obtained using identical filters and exposure times phase-folded together. Black curves show the median transit model derived from the posterior distribution, with colored shading indicating the 68% confidence intervals. Blue curves represent the nominal TESS light curve model projected into the corresponding ground-based filters. -- astro-ph.EP

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

From Earths To Super-Earths: Five New Small Planets Transiting M Dwarf Stars

by Keith CowingDecember 18, 2025December 18, 2025

Earth-sized planets transiting M dwarf stars present one of the best opportunities with current facilities for studying the atmospheric and bulk compositions of terrestrial worlds.

Refractory ratio of stars compared to their exoplanets as populations. The host stars population is shown in red at contours of 1 and 2 σ values, while the dotted contour corresponds to the GALAH stellar population. The marginal distribution of Fe/Mg and Fe/Si are shown outside of the scatter plot for stars (red), all exoplanets (blue) and GALAH (dotted) populations. Exoplanets above the RTR, which require volatiles, are indicated as white circles and solar system objects are shown in yellow. Notice the axes are in logarithmic scale. -- astro-ph.EP

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

Evidence Of 1:1 Slope Between Rocky Super-Earths And Their Host Stars

by Keith CowingDecember 1, 2025December 1, 2025

The relationship between the composition of rocky exoplanets and their host stars is fundamental to understanding planetary formation and evolution.