Habitable Worlds Observatory
Establishing a New Habitability Metric for Future Astrobiology Surveys
The search for exoplanets has grown immensely in recent decades thanks to next-generation observatories and instruments. The current census is…
Earth-like exoplanets might be in short supply for the Habitable Worlds Observatory
How common are Earth-like exoplanets—also called exo-Earths—and which exoplanetary systems should we target to find them? This is what a…
How to SUPPPPRESS Light From a Star That Is Ten Billion Times Brighter Than Its Habitable Exoplanet
Searching for Earth 2.0 has been an obsession of almost all exoplanet hunters since the discipline's dawn a few decades…
Research Work Begins on the Habitable Worlds Observatory
NASA are planning on building a telescope to hunt for habitable worlds. The imaginatively named ‘Habitable Worlds Observatory’ is at…
Suppressing Starlight: How to Find Other Earths
One underappreciated aspect of the current flood of exoplanet discoveries is the technical marvels that enable it. Scientists and engineers…
Could Alien Solar Panels Be Technosignatures?
If alien technological civilizations exist, they almost certainly use solar energy. Along with wind, it's the cleanest, most accessible form…
The Habitable Worlds Observatory Could See Lunar and Solar ‘Exo-Eclipses’
A future space observatory could use exo-eclipses to tease out exomoon populations.
Astronomers Identify 164 Promising Targets for the Habitable Worlds Observatory
Planning large astronomical missions is a long process. In some cases, such as the now functional James Webb Space Telescope,…
When did the First Continents Appear in the Universe?
On Earth, continents are likely necessary to support life. Continents 'float' on top of the Earth's viscous mantle, and heat…
How Can We Bring Down the Costs of Large Space Telescopes?
We're all basking in the success of the James Webb Space Telescope. It's fulfilling its promise as our most powerful…