The demographics of Kepler planets provide a key testbed for models of planet formation and evolution, particularly for explaining the radius valley separating super-Earths and sub-Neptunes.
water world
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
An Unusual Dust Storm Reveals How Mars Lost Some Of Its Water
The current image of Mars as an arid and hostile desert contrasts with the history revealed by its surface. Channels, minerals altered by water, and other geological traces indicate that […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Whole-planet Model Of The Earth Without Life For Terrestrial Exoplanet Studies
As the only known habitable (and inhabited) planet in the universe, Earth informs our search for life elsewhere. Future telescopes like the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will soon look for […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
What To Make Of The Earth’s Curiously Intermediate Land Fraction?
Approximately two-thirds of the Earth, the only known inhabited planet, is covered in ocean. Why not 0.01% or 99.99%? It has been previously suggested that this may represent a certain […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Role of Intrinsic Temperature and Vertical Mixing in Characterizing Sub-Neptune Atmospheres
Sub-Neptune planets are often modeled with a dense rocky or metal-rich interior beneath a thick hydrogen/helium (H/He) atmosphere; though their bulk densities could also be explained by a water-rich interior […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
When Tropical Oceans On Earth Were Oxygen Oases
The tropical oceans that once served as oxygen-rich havens for Earth’s earliest complex life have become the planet’s largest marine dead zones. The dramatic reversal occurred hundreds of millions of […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Marine Geoscientists Link Earth Warming With Ancient Ocean ‘Salty Blob’
Climate change has many culprits, from agriculture to transportation to energy production. Now, add another: the deep ocean salty blob.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Uncertainty In Water Mass Fraction Of Wet Planets
Planets with masses between Earth and Neptune often have radii that imply the presence of volatiles, suggesting that water may be abundant in their interiors. However, directly observing the precise […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Water Planet: More Polar Ocean Turbulence Due To Planetary Warming
A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change by an international team of scientists, from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea, […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Findings Suggest The Mars Was Warmer And Wetter Millions Of Years Ago
Rocks that stood out as light-colored dots on the reddish-orange surface of Mars now are the latest evidence that areas of the small planet may have once supported wet oases […]