Extrasolar Planets

Searching Through a Sea of Noise to Find Exoplanets

Searching Through a Sea of Noise to Find Exoplanets

Yale researchers have found a data-driven way to detect distant planets and refine the search for worlds similar to Earth.

Astronomy

A Framework to Combine Low- and High-resolution Spectroscopy for the Atmospheres of Transiting Exoplanets

A Framework to Combine Low- and High-resolution Spectroscopy for the Atmospheres of Transiting Exoplanets

Current observations of the atmospheres of close-in exoplanets are predominantly obtained with two techniques: low-resolution spectroscopy with space telescopes and high-resolution spectroscopy from the ground.

Astrochemistry

Expanding the Catalog: Considering the Importance of Carbon, Magnesium, and Neon in the Evolution of Stars and Habitable Zones

Expanding the Catalog: Considering the Importance of Carbon, Magnesium, and Neon in the Evolution of Stars and Habitable Zones

Building on previous work, we have expanded our catalog of evolutionary models for stars with variable composition; here we present models for stars of mass 0.5 - 1.2 Msol, at scaled metallicities of 0.1 - 1.5 Zsol, and specific C/Fe, Mg/Fe, and Ne/Fe values of 0.58 - 1.72 C/Fe_sol, 0.54 - 1.84 Mg/Fe_sol and 0.5 - 2.0 Ne/Fe_sol, respectively.

Mars

Curiosity Finds More Indications Of Past Martian Habitability

Curiosity Finds More Indications Of Past Martian Habitability

NASA's Curiosity rover is climbing a layered Martian mountain and finding evidence of how ancient lakes and wet underground environments changed, billions of years ago, creating more diverse chemical environments that affected their favorability for microbial life.

Habitable Zones & Global Climate

Will Earth Exist in 5 Billion Years?

Will Earth Exist in 5 Billion Years?

What will happen to Earth when, in a few billion years' time, the Sun is a hundred times bigger than it is today?

Habitable Zones & Global Climate

How Far Are Extraterrestrial Life and Intelligence After Kepler?

How Far Are Extraterrestrial Life and Intelligence After Kepler?

The Kepler mission has shown that a significant fraction of all stars may have an Earth-size habitable planet. A dramatic support was the recent detection of Proxima Centauri b.

Proxima Centauri b

The Orbital Inclination of Proxima Centauri b

The Orbital Inclination of Proxima Centauri b

The field of exoplanetary science has seen discovery rates increase dramatically over recent years, due largely to the data from the Kepler mission. Even so, individual discoveries of planets orbiting nearby stars are very important for studies of characterization and near-term follow-up prospects.

Biosignatures & Paleobiology

Modeling pN2 Through Geological Time: Implications for Planetary Climates and Atmospheric Biosignatures

Modeling pN2 Through Geological Time: Implications for Planetary Climates and Atmospheric Biosignatures

Nitrogen is a major nutrient for all life on Earth and could plausibly play a similar role in extraterrestrial biospheres.

Astrochemistry

Efficient Photochemistry of Coronene: Water Complexes

Efficient Photochemistry of Coronene: Water Complexes

The photochemistry of ices with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has been extensively studied, but to date no investigation has been made of PAHs in interaction with low numbers (n < 4) of molecules of water.

Extrasolar Planets

Detection of the Atmosphere of the 1.6 Earth Mass Exoplanet GJ 1132b

Detection of the Atmosphere of the 1.6 Earth Mass Exoplanet GJ 1132b

Detecting the atmospheres of low-mass low-temperature exoplanets is a high-priority goal on the path to ultimately detect biosignatures in the atmospheres of habitable exoplanets.

Astrochemistry

Search for Interstellar Monohydric Thiols

Search for Interstellar Monohydric Thiols

It has been pointed out by various astronomers that very interesting relationship exists between interstellar alcohols and the corresponding thiols (sulfur analogue of alcohols) as far as the spectroscopic properties and chemical abundances are concerned.

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