Astrobiology
Rocky Planets Might Need to be the Right age to Support Life
In a new study, a team of Earth scientists shows how scientists could look for signs of a carbon-silicate cycle…
There’s Enough Sunlight Getting Through Venus’ Clouds to Support High-Altitude Life
Carl Sagan once famously, and sarcastically, observed that, since we couldn’t see what was going on on the surface of…
Ocean Worlds With Hydrogen-Rich Atmospheres Could be the Perfect Spots for Life
A new study has identified another class of exoplanet that could drastically increase the odds of finding life beyond the…
Micrometeorites Churn up the Surface of Europa. If you Want to Find Life, You’ll Need to dig Down a Meter or So
According to new research, impact craters caused by micrometeorites are the best place to look for evidence that life exists…
Cassini Saw Methane in Enceladus’ Plumes. Scientists Don’t Know How it Could be There Without Life
Even though the Cassini mission at Saturn ended nearly four years ago, data from the spacecraft still keeps scientists busy.…
To Take the Best Direct Images of Exoplanets With Space Telescopes, we’re Going to Want Starshades
The Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems (JATIS) has released a special edition of papers dedicated to educating the…
Most Exoplanets won’t Receive Enough Radiation to Support an Earth-Like Biosphere
According to new research, most extrasolar planets do not get enough radiation to support photosynthesis, which places limits on how…
Astrobiologists Detect a Signature of Life Remotely. Don’t get too Excited, Though, it was With a Helicopter Here on Earth
Chirality is a word normally found in biological textbooks that will occasionally pop up in the astronomy community, usually when…
New Technique to Search for Life, Whether or not it’s Similar to Earth Life
A new tool for measuring the complexity of molecules is able to identify those that must have formed in the…
There Might be Volcanoes at the Bottom of Europa’s sub-ice Oceans
In about three years, NASA plans to launch a robotic orbiter that will study Jupiter's mysterious moon Europa. It's called…