TRAPPIST-1 Archives - Page 6 of 23 - Astrobiology

This artist’s concept depicts planet TRAPPIST-1 d passing in front of its turbulent star, with other members of the closely packed system shown in the background. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, J. Olmsted (STScI)

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

Webb Narrows Atmospheric Possibilities For Earth-sized Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2025August 13, 2025

The exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d intrigues astronomers looking for possibly habitable worlds beyond our solar system because it is similar in size to Earth, rocky, and resides in an area around […]

Joint posterior constraints on the surface partial pressure of key atmospheric absorbers for atmospheric scenarios similar to solar system terrestrials, with N2 as the background gas. The color shadings correspond to the posterior probability mass, and the contours highlight the 68% and 95% confidence regions from the joint retrieval in each case. The absorber in the N2-background atmosphere is labeled in the top right corner of each panel. The dashed-dotted, dashed, and solid sienna lines correspond to an atmospheric surface pressure of 0.1, 1, and 10 bar. We illustrate where typical models of Archean Earth (AE), Modern Earth (ME), and compositions for Titan (T), early Mars (eMa), Mars (Ma), and Venus (V; Encrenaz & Coustenis 2018) approximately lie relative to our constraints for TRAPPIST-1 d. Star markers correspond to specific cloudy cases, where the planet is modeled as either cloudy or cloud-free (for Titan, Modern Earth, and Venus). For the N2-H2O case, we show as a black dotted line the limit of pressures that would be cut off by refraction in a 11 bar atmosphere (10 bar H2O+1 bar N2). For thinner atmospheres, the impact of refraction on atmosphere detectability is even weaker. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Strict Limits On Potential Secondary Atmospheres On The Temperate Rocky Exo-Earth TRAPPIST-1 d

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2025August 13, 2025

The nearby TRAPPIST-1 system, with its seven small rocky planets orbiting a late-type M8 star, offers an unprecedented opportunity to search for secondary atmospheres on temperate terrestrial worlds.

Stellar flares observed in JWST/NIRISS time-series spectroscopy of TRAPPIST-1. Each column shows one flare event during transits of the TRAPPIST-1c or TRAPPIST-1f planets. Tow row: Light curves with the total flux (integrated over the full spectral range and normalized to the mean out-of-transit flux). Colored points indicate pre-flare (green), flare (orange), maximum flare light (red), and post-flare (blue) phases. Green and blue dashed lines mark the average pre- and post-flare flux levels. Middle row: Light curves of the normalized Hα flux. Bottom row: Time-resolved spectrograms (wavelength vs. time) normalized to the pre-flare spectrum. The shaded blue region shows the drop in flux caused by the planetary transit. For comparison, the time axis in all panels are aligned such that t = 0 corresponds to the beginning of the maximum flare light phase. In all four events, the total flux in the post-flare phase is systematically elevated relative to the pre-flare level. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, TRAPPIST-1

Flares On TRAPPIST-1 Reveal The Spectrum Of Magnetic Features On Its Surface

by Keith CowingAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

TRAPPIST-1 is an M8 dwarf hosting seven known exoplanets and is currently one of the most frequently observed targets of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Atmospheric speciation of TRAPPIST-1e at 280 K above a planetary surface with stable condensates for atmospheres originally in equilibrium with a fully molten mantle. In all panels, the curve colours correspond to the gas species listed in the legend and condensate masses are relative to Earth oceans (EO). Upper panels show the percentage of models by dominant species (VMR > 50%) that satisfy the requirement of a minimum mass of (a) Water, (b) Graphite, (c) α-sulfur, and (d) Ammonium chloride. Lower panels illustrate the composition and total pressure of the atmosphere for (e) CO2-rich above a water ocean, (f) CH4-rich above graphite, (g) CO2-rich above α-sulfur, and (h) CH4-rich above ammonium chloride. Median values are indicated by lines and shaded regions bracket the first and third quartiles. Compare to the atmospheric speciation derived from a partially molten mantle in Figure A5. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Diversity of Rocky Planet Atmospheres In The C-H-O-N-S-Cl System With Interior Dissolution, Non-ideality, and Condensation: Application to TRAPPIST-1e and Sub-Neptunes

by Keith CowingJuly 6, 2025July 6, 2025

A quantitative understanding of the nature and composition of low-mass rocky exo(planet) atmospheres during their evolution is needed to interpret observations.

EWs for the K i lines in the J band vs. NIR spectral type for M dwarfs in our sample. The figure elements are the same as in Figure 3. The panels display: (a) NIR spectral type vs. K i 1.169 µm EW, (b) NIR spectral type vs. K i 1.177 µm EW, and (c) NIR spectral type vs. K i 1.253 µm EW. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics

Gravity-sensitive Spectral Indices In Ultracool Dwarfs: Investigating Correlations With Metallicity And Planet Occurrence Using SpeX and FIRE Observations

by Keith CowingJune 30, 2025June 28, 2025

We present a near-infrared spectroscopic analysis (0.9-2.4 micron) of gravity indices for 57 ultracool dwarfs (spectral types M5.5 to L0), including exoplanet hosts TRAPPIST-1, SPECULOOS-2, SPECULOOS-3, and LHS 3154. Our […]

The mass and radius of our two models

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

An Earth-like Density For The Temperate Earth-sized Planet GJ 12b

by Keith CowingJune 27, 2025June 27, 2025

While JWST has provided us with the opportunity to probe the atmospheres of potentially-habitable planets, observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system have shown us that active stars severely complicate efforts at […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Habitable Zones, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1

Hubble’s Multi-Year Search for Exospheres in the TRAPPIST-1 System Reveals Frequent Microflares

by Keith CowingJune 17, 2025June 17, 2025

Ly-α observations provide a powerful probe of stellar activity and atmospheric escape in exoplanetary systems.

TRAPPIST-1 System contains multiple rocky planets in very tight orbits. In contrast, our solar system is much more expansive and has no planets inside the orbit of Mercury. -- NASA

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Stellar Cartography, TRAPPIST-1

New SwRI Model Explains Exoplanetary Systems With Compact Orbits

by Keith CowingJune 9, 2025June 9, 2025

Star and planet formation has largely been considered separate, sequential processes. But in a new study, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have modeled a different scenario where planets start […]

JWST GO time allocation for exoplanet science on different Cycles. Representation of the total General Observer (GO) allocated time for exoplanet science on JWST Cycle 1 (released on March, 2021, i.e., pre-launch), Cycle 2 (released on May 2023), Cycle 3 (released on February, 2024) and Cycle 4 (released on March, 2025). The percentage of all telescope time spent on exoplanet science for a given Cycle is indicated on top of this illustration (e.g., Cycle 1 comprised 23% of time on the telescope devoted to exoplanet science). The purple shading corresponds to the share allocated to transiting exoplanet science while the orange shading corresponds to highcontrast exoplanet science performed with JWST. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Status Report

Highlights from Exoplanet Observations by the James Webb Space Telescope

by Keith CowingMay 28, 2025May 28, 2025

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has started a revolution in exoplanetary science.

This schematic depicts the set-up of the volatile exchange during initialization (t=0) and run time. For initialization, a surface temperature of 4000 K and a completely molten magma ocean is assumed, where the dissolved volatiles are in balance with the outgassed volatile content, set by the volatile melt fraction Fi . As the magma ocean solidifies, part of the volatile budget is deposited in the solid mantle. Further, atmospheric escape can remove H2O. These two sink terms thus reduce the amount of a volatile available in the fully coupled magma ocean-atmosphere system Mmoa i . The full overview of all included processes, including radiogenic heating, is shown in Barth et al. (2021, Fig. 1) -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1

From CO2- to H2O-dominated Atmospheres And Back — How Mixed Outgassing Changes The Volatile Distribution In Magma Oceans Around M Dwarf Stars [TRAPPIST-1]

by Keith CowingMay 24, 2025May 24, 2025

We investigate the impact of CO2 on TRAPPIST-1 e, f and g during the magma ocean stage. These potentially habitable rocky planets are currently the most accessible for astronomical observations.