water worlds Archives

The small planet population can be explained by competing hypotheses. Planets may form with substantial, low mean-molecular weight atmospheres (gas-dwarfs).

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Preparing for the Early eVolution Explorer: Detecting the Primordial, Transiting Exoplanet Population

by Keith CowingJune 8, 2026June 8, 2026

The close-in small planet population may be formed either with hydrogen/helium dominated envelopes or with water-rich interiors. Both scenarios reproduce the present day planet population in mass, radius, and periods, […]

In a water–water hydrogen bond, a hydrogen nucleus from one water molecule is donated to an sp3 lone pair on the oxygen atom of a neighboring water molecule, along the axis of the O–H covalent bond. The polar O–H bond withdraws electron density from the hydrogen atom, exposing the back of the proton to HB acceptor. -- Protein Science via PubMed

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Master Molecule That Built Biology: How Water Shaped The Chemistry Of Life

by Keith CowingApril 25, 2026April 25, 2026

The deep entanglement of biomolecular structure and function with aqueous systems supports the view that water actively sculpted both molecules and processes during the origins of life and continues to […]

A schematic diagram of the hycean Lotka-Volterra model we implement in this work. The schematic shows how various parameters in our model are connected in a vertical, one-dimensional water column.

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Proxima Centauri, Status Report, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ecological Modelling Of Hycean Worlds

by Keith CowingMarch 25, 2026

New observations are opening the possibility of characterising habitable environments in exoplanetary systems, with the recent example of the candidate hycean world K2-18 b.

Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. (Credit: CC photo via Wikimedia Commons) -- via CU Boulder

Astrobiology (general), Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Commercial & Private Sector, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, NASA Astrobiology Program, Origin & Evolution of Life, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Astrobiologists Search For Alien Life And Help Life On Earth In The Process

by Keith CowingFebruary 17, 2026February 17, 2026

On Earth, life thrives in some of the most seemingly inhospitable environments.

Weighted mean abundance differences (large–small planet hosts) as a function of the chosen radius cutoff. Colored curves trace the various composite indices, with shaded bands showing uncertainties. The apparent volatile enhancement should be regarded as tentative given the limited reliability of C and N measurements. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Stellar Chemistry And Planet Size: Insights From GALAH DR4

by Keith CowingDecember 27, 2025December 27, 2025

The well-known correlation between stellar metallicity and planet occurrence is strongest for giant planets, but weaker for smaller planets, suggesting that detailed elemental patterns beyond [Fe/H] may be relevant.

Planet M–R and mass–density distributions of literature and TGLC-fitted values. (a) M–R distribution of small TESS planets. (b) Mass–density distribution of small TESS planets. Both panels include the high-precision planet sample with TESS-free literature values (gray diamond) and TESS-dependent TGLC-fitted values (black empty circle). The error bars represent 1σ Gaussian standard deviations. For each TESS-dependent TGLC-fitted value, a line connects it to the corresponding literature value, where the color of the line shows whether it increased (green) or decreased (orange) from the literature value. We also include theoretical models of planet compositions for the Earth-like (red), water worlds (blue), and rocky planets with atmospheres (brown). The last model accounts for the boil-off initial conditions (solid brown) and a range of agnostic initial conditions (region between dashed brown). Earth and Neptune are included for reference. -- The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Hundreds Of TESS Exoplanets Might Be Larger Than We Thought

by Keith CowingJuly 15, 2025July 14, 2025

In new research, University of California, Irvine astronomers describe how more than 200 known exoplanets are likely much larger than previously thought. It’s a finding that could change which distant […]

Simulated thermal emission spectra from 0.6 to 15 µm of a CARMA model, EddySed models with various Scloud values and different fractions of the cloud mass mixing ratio, and a cloud-free model for a Y dwarf with Teff = 175 K, log(g) = 4.5 and fsed = 6. The inset highlights the region of interest between 3.5 - 6 µm. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Microphysical Prescriptions for Parameterized Water Cloud Formation on Ultra-cool Substellar Objects

by Keith CowingAugust 20, 2024

Water must condense into ice clouds in the coldest brown dwarfs and exoplanets. When they form, these icy clouds change the emergent spectra, temperature structure, and albedo of the substellar […]

Polymetallic nodules on the seafloor -- NOAA

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Dwellers In The Deep: Biological Consequences Of Dark Oxygen

by Keith CowingAugust 15, 2024August 15, 2024

The striking recent putative detection of “dark oxygen” (dark O2) sources on the abyssal ocean floor in the Pacific at ∼4 km depth raises the intriguing scenario that complex (i.e., […]

Temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b may be a world completely covered in ice (left) similar to Jupiter’s moon Europa or may be an ice world with a liquid substellar ocean and a cloudy atmosphere (centre). LHS 1140 b is 1.7 times the size of our planet Earth (right) and is the most promising habitable zone exoplanet yet found in the search for liquid water beyond the Solar System. CREDIT Benoit Gougeon, Université de Montréal

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Webb Telescope Finds A Potentially Habitable Icy World

by Keith CowingJuly 11, 2024July 11, 2024

A international team of astronomers led by Université de Montréal has made an exciting discovery about the temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b: it could be a promising “super-Earth” covered in […]

Detrended TESS (top row) and CHEOPS (bottom row) light curves, phase-folded to the orbital periods of HIP 29442 b (left), c (middle) and d (right). The coloured points show the 30-min binned data, the solid black lines show the best-fit transit models. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Unveiling the Internal Structure And Formation History Of The Three Planets Transiting HIP 29442 (TOI-469) With CHEOPS

by Keith CowingJune 28, 2024June 28, 2024

Multiplanetary systems spanning the radius valley are ideal testing grounds for exploring the proposed explanations for the observed bimodality in the radius distribution of close-in exoplanets. One such system is […]