Understanding planetary habitability is one of the major challenges of the current scientific era, particularly given the discovery of a large and diverse terrestrial exoplanet population.
Venus
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Venus
Stability of 20 Biogenic Amino Acids in Concentrated Sulfuric Acid: Implications for the Habitability of Venus’ Clouds
Scientists have long speculated about the potential habitability of Venus, not at the 700K surface, but in the cloud layers located at 48–60 km altitudes, where temperatures match those found on […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Venus
Venus Phosphine: Updates and Lessons Learned
The discovery of phosphine in Venus’ atmosphere provides lessons for the search for life. The detection has survived all challenges and has acquired independent support from archival data from PVP.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Venus
Simple Lipids Form Stable Higher-order Structures In Concentrated Sulfuric Acid
Venus has become a target of astrobiological interest because it is physically accessible to direct exploration, unlike exoplanets. So far this interest has been motivated not by the explicit expectation […]
Posted inAlpha Centauri, Astrogeology, Beta Pictoris, Ceres, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Pluto, Proxima Centauri, Saturn, Status Report, tau Ceti, TRAPPIST-1, Uranus, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Classifications For Exoplanet and Exoplanetary Systems
When a star is described as a spectral class G2V, we know its approximate mass, temperature, age, and size. At more than 5,700 exoplanets discovered, it is a natural developmental […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Ganymede, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Astrobiology Fleet Update: Video: Juice’s Lunar-Earth Flyby
On 19–20 August 2024, Juice successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, with flight controllers guiding the spacecraft first past the Moon, then past Earth. The gravity of the two changed […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Missions & Hardware, Moon, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors, Venus, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Astrobiology Droid Update: Juice Rerouted To Venus After The First lunar-Earth Flyby
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) has successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, using the gravity of Earth to send it Venus-bound, on a shortcut to Jupiter through the inner […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Press Release, Venus
Looking For Ancient Rock Beyond Earth
Earth’s continents are each different and have changed through time, but they all have one thing in common — the presence of one or more cratons, forming their ancient nuclei. […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Status Report, Venus
A Novel Abiotic Pathway For Phosphine Synthesis Over Acidic Dust In Venus’ Atmosphere
Recent ground-based observations of Venus have detected a single spectral feature consistent with phosphine (PH3) in the middle atmosphere, a gas which has been suggested as a biosignature on rocky […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ceres, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Mercury, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Building Materials For Water-rich Planets In The Early Solar System
Age data for certain classes of meteorite have made it possible to gain new findings on the origin of small water-rich astronomical bodies in the early solar system. These so-called […]