A research team from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has conducted high-sensitivity radio observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS using the Tianma Telescope, […]
Water
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Hydrogen Atmosphere Could Keep Exomoons Habitable For Billions Of Years
Liquid water is considered essential for life. Surprisingly, however, stable conditions that are conducive to life could exist far from any sun.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Direct View of the Chemical Properties of Water from Another Planetary System: Water D/H in 3I/ATLAS
All detected water reservoirs in the solar system exhibit a deuterium enrichment that links back to the physical environment at the time of stellar birth.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report
Hydration Features on Near-Earth Objects: Integrating New Data with Prior Results
Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are excellent laboratories for testing processes that affect airless bodies, as well as informing us about solar system history.
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 inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Moon, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Our Moon’s 4-Billion-Year Impact Record Suggests Meteorites Didn’t Supply Earth’s Water
A long-standing idea in planetary science is that water-rich meteorites arriving late in Earth’s history could have delivered a major share of Earth’s water. A new study by Universities Space […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Callisto, Europa, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Press Release
The Water Makeup Of Jupiter’s Galilean Moons Was Set At Birth
While Io, the most volcanically active moon in the solar system, appears completely dry and devoid of water ice, its neighbor Europa is thought to harbor a vast global ocean […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mars Was Half Covered By An Ocean
Using images from cameras on Mars orbiters, an international research team led by the University of Bern has discovered structures on Mars that are very similar to classic river deltas […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Press Release
Key To Researching Large Planets: Research Team Discovers Novel Form Of Water
Temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius and pressures of millions of atmospheres: superionic water only forms under extreme conditions. These conditions transform water into an unusual state in which hydrogen […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
SPHEREx Pre-Perihelion Mapping of H2O, CO2, and CO in Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
From 01- to 15-Aug-2025 UT, the SPHEREx spacecraft observed interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. Using R=40-130 spectrophotometry at λ=0.7-5μm, light curves, spectra, and imaging of 3I were obtained.