oceans

How Vegetation Could Impact the Climate of Exoplanets

The term 'habitable zone' is a broad definition that serves a purpose in our age of exoplanet discovery. But the…

2 months ago

What’s the Best Mix of Oceans to Land for a Habitable Planet?

Earth is about 29% land and 71% oceans. How significant is that mix for habitability? What does it tell us…

2 years ago

Satellites are Tracking Rivers of Garbage Flowing Across the Oceans

There's an ocean of human-made garbage floating through Earth's seas. From plastic straws to beverage bottles and food wrappers, the…

2 years ago

Water Worlds Could Have Plumes of Nutrients Carried up From Down Below

Earth's oceans are one huge, uniform electrolyte solution. They contain salt (sodium chloride) and other nutrients like magnesium, sulphate, and…

2 years ago

Europa Could be Pulling Oxygen Down Below the Ice to Feed Life

Jupiter's moon Europa is a prime candidate in the search for life. The frozen moon has a subsurface ocean, and…

3 years ago

Even Tiny Mimas Seems to Have an Internal Ocean of Liquid Water

Data from the Cassini mission keeps fuelling discoveries. The latest discovery is that Saturn's tiny moon Mimas may have an…

3 years ago

A Technique to Find Oceans on Other Worlds

A new study shows how next-generation observatories could directly observe oceans on exoplanets, which could narrow the search for extraterrestrial…

3 years ago

More Evidence that Europa’s Oceans Could be Habitable

At first glance, Jupiter's moon Europa doesn't seem much like Earth. It's a moon, not a planet, and it's covered…

4 years ago

Pluto and Other Kuiper Belt Objects Started Out With Water Oceans, and Have Been Slowly Freezing Solid for Billions of Years

It seems unlikely that an ocean could persist on a world that never gets closer than 30 astronomical units from…

4 years ago

Ocean Circulation Might Be the Key to Finding Habitable Exoplanets

We've found thousands and thousands of exoplanets now. And spacecraft like TESS will likely find thousands and thousands more of…

4 years ago