water world Archives - Page 12 of 14 - Astrobiology

Elemental ratios providing information on the relative abundance of nitrogen compared to water for Pluto and Triton. This is compared to the solar abundances, abundances observed in Jupiter’s atmosphere, and analogs for solid materials in the PSN. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Icy Worlds, Pluto, Status Report, Triton, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Surface Volatile Composition as Evidence for Hydrothermal Processes Lasting Longer in Triton’s Interior Than Pluto’s

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2023December 12, 2023

Ocean worlds, or icy bodies in the outer solar system that have or once had subsurface liquid water oceans, are among the most compelling topics of astrobiology. Typically, confirming the […]

Proposed explanations to Titan’s large k2 as observed by Cassini. The schematic of Titan’s interior model has been extracted from de Kleer et al. (2019). -- astro-ph.EP

Icy Worlds, Status Report, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Resonant Stratification In Titan’s Global Ocean

by Keith CowingDecember 11, 2023December 11, 2023

Titan’s ice shell floats on top of a global ocean revealed by the large tidal Love number k2=0.616±0.067 registered by Cassini. The Cassini observation exceeds the predicted k2 by one […]

Seafloor Mapping -- E/V Nautilus

Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Video, Audio, Webcasts, Podcasts, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Video: Ocean World Exploration: Seafloor Mapping In 60 Seconds

by Keith CowingDecember 11, 2023December 11, 2023

Editor’s note: we’re sending two missions to the Jovian System to study ice-covered ocean worlds – worlds that may contain life. How we explore and chart Earth’s oceans and its […]

Internal ocean probabilities of the investigated exoplanets. The colour bar depicts the probability of each planet having a liquid water reservoir in its interior. Red colours imply a high probability, while planets with dark blue circles are less likely to have internal oceans. The HZ, shown as a green band only for illustrative purposes, was calculated based on stellar parameters from theoretical stellar evolution models. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Proxima Centauri, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water Content Of Rocky Exoplanets In The Habitable Zone

by Keith CowingDecember 4, 2023December 4, 2023

In this study we investigated the interiors of rocky exoplanets in order to identify those that may have large quantities of water.

An illustration of two water-rich exoplanets with hazy atmospheres. CREDIT Roberto Molar Candanosa/Johns Hopkins University.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

An Alien Haze, Created In A Lab, Enables Better Viewing Of Distant Water Worlds

by Keith CowingNovember 27, 2023November 27, 2023

Scientists have simulated conditions that allow hazy skies to form in water-rich exoplanets, a crucial step in determining how haziness muddles observations by ground and space telescopes.

Outgoing thermal emission as a function of surface temperature. The dashed-dotted line is the classic runaway curve obtained with fully convective profiles, independently from the stellar radiation spectrum and internal flux. With self-consistent profiles, this function depends on the type of the host star and the internal flux ϕint. Dashed curves are obtained with Earth geothermal flux. For T-1 and ϕint < 0.01 Wm−2 , the runaway greenhouse can end without full vaporization of the ocean. Low-pressure liquidus, solidus and melting (melt fraction = 40%) temperatures are indicated for an Earth mantle composition. Surface pressure is 270 bars except in the blue area where Tsurf is below the critical temperature of H2O and psurf is given by the saturation vapor pressure of H2O. These curves are based on the profiles shown in Extended Data Figure 2 -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Cool Runaway Greenhouse Without Surface Magma Ocean

by Keith CowingNovember 17, 2023May 11, 2024

Water vapour atmospheres with content equivalent to the Earth’s oceans, resulting from impacts or a high insolation, were found to yield a surface magma ocean. This was, however, a consequence […]

Illustration of Earth’s interior revealing subducting water and a rising plume of magma. At the interface where subducting water meets the core, a chemical exchange occurs to form a hydrogen-rich layer in the topmost outer core and dense silica in the bottom of the mantle. Image courtesy Yonsei University

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Surface Water Dives Deep And Transforms Earth’s Core’s Outer Layer

by Keith CowingNovember 15, 2023November 15, 2023

A few decades ago, seismologists imaging the deep planet identified a thin layer, just over a few hundred kilometers thick. The origin of this layer, known as the E prime […]

The mass-radius relations of the simulated planets from our migration and in-situ models both of which are found to explain the mass-radius relations of the observed planets. However, they predict completely different bulk compositions which can be reflected in the atmospheric composition. -- astro-ph.EP

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

Where Are The Water Worlds? Identifying The Exo-water-worlds Using Models of Planet Formation and Atmospheric Evolution

by Keith CowingOctober 7, 2023October 7, 2023

Planet formation models suggest that the small exoplanets that migrate from beyond the snowline of the protoplanetary disk likely contain water-ice-rich cores (∼50% by mass), also known as the water […]

3D GCM output at 40◦ obliquity and H2=10% for the rain precipitation, snow and ice fraction at the surface, snowfall, sea/ground surface temperature. Black contour lines represent surface elevation level (-2000, 0, 2000 and 8000 meters) and the red contour line is the paleo-shoreline (-3900 meters). -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Mars, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Circumpolar Ocean Stability On Mars 3 Billion Years Ago

by Keith CowingOctober 3, 2023October 3, 2023

What was the nature of the Late Hesperian climate? Warm and wet or cold and dry? Formulated this way the question leads to an apparent paradox since both options seem […]

Initial and final atmospheric mass fraction Xatm and final water mole fraction (color bar) after the atmospheric loss through photoevaporation (ε = 0.1) for 4.6 Gyrs. The rocky core is composed of basalt (left panel), CI (middle panel), and EH (right panel). An initial water mass fraction is determined by the empirical relation derived from the giant impact simulations, XW = 8.2 × 10−2X −0.41 atm . The color contour shows the final H2O mole fraction in the remaining atmosphere. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Evolution of a Water-rich Atmosphere Formed by a Giant Impact on an Earth-sized Planet

by Keith CowingSeptember 28, 2023September 28, 2023

The atmosphere of a terrestrial planet that is replenished with secondary gases should have accumulated hydrogen-rich gas from its protoplanetary disk.