Atmosphere
If a Planet Has a Lot of Methane in its Atmosphere, Life is the Most Likely Cause
The ultra-powerful James Webb Space Telescope will launch soon. Once it's deployed, and in position at the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point…
Mars Might Have Lost its Water Quickly
Mars is an arid place, and aside from a tiny amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, all water exists…
There are Planets So Close to Their Stars That They Have Magma Oceans 100km Deep and Winds that Go 8000 km/h
200 light years away, “super earth” exoplanet K2-141b orbits a star so closely that its "year" is only 7 hours…
Astronomers Challenge Recent Findings About Venus. “No Statistically Significant Detection of Phosphine”
In September, a team of scientists reported finding phosphine in the upper atmosphere of Venus. Phosphine can be a biomarker…
Astronomers Report They’ve Detected the Amino Acid Glycine in the Atmosphere of Venus
Does it feel like all eyes are on Venus these days? The discovery of the potential biomarker phosphine in the…
Did Pioneer See Phosphine in the Clouds of Venus Decades Ago?
The discovery of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere has generated a lot of interest. It has the potential to be a…
Maybe Volcanoes Could Explain the Phosphine in Venus’ Atmosphere
The detection of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere was one of those quintessential moments in space science. It was an unexpected…
Sunrises Across the Solar System
Scientists have learned a lot about the atmospheres on various worlds in our Solar System simply from planetary sunrises or…
Newborn Exoplanets can be Completely Stripped of Their Atmosphere by Stars
Newborn exoplanets can have a tough life. They may form an atmosphere, but that atmosphere can be doomed. Their stars…
Extremely Hot Exoplanets Can Have Extreme Weather, Like Clouds of Aluminum Oxide and Titanium Rain
Thanks to the success of the Kepler mission, we know that there are multitudes of exoplanets of a type called…