Before the first exoplanets were discovered in the 1990s, our own solar system served as the model for what solar systems looked like. The physical and chemical dynamics that formed our system were also seen as the default model for what might have occurred in solar systems yet to be found. As the number of …
The JWST Discovers its First Earth-Sized Exoplanet
In the search for life on distant planets, scientists generally focus on identifying Earth-sized, rocky planets, finding planets in their host star's habitable zone, and having available the telescope power to read the chemical make-up of the atmospheres. A relatively small number of Earth-sized exoplanets discovered by telescopes in space and on Earth have meet …
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The World of Water Worlds
Among the most intriguing types of exoplanet expected to be orbiting distant stars is the "water world," planets that are liquid to a far, far greater extent than on Earth. Astronomers have theorized the existence of such planets and several candidates have been put forward, though not confirmed. But the logic is strong enough for …
Many Complex Organic Compounds –Evolved Building Blocks of Life — Are Formed Where Stars Are Being Born
Recent reports about the detection of carbon-based organic molecules on Mars by the instruments of the Perseverance rover included suggestions that some of the organics may well have fallen from space over the eons, and were then preserved on the Martian surface. Given the cruciality of organics as building blocks of life --or even as …
Tantalizing Organic Compounds Found on Mars
When searching for signs of ancient life on Mars, NASA scientists increasingly focus on organic material -- the carbon-based compounds that are the building blocks of life. Organics were found by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, and now new papers report they have also been identified by the instruments of the Perseverance rover in …
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The Late Heavy Bombardment Brought Oceans of Water to Ancient Mars, New Research Says
Mars looks largely desiccated today,but long ago it had oceans full of water delivered by asteroids during the Late Heavy Bombardment period, new research reports During that tumultuous time solar system history some 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago, an intense barrage of primordial asteroids called chondrites crashed into Mars. Using a measure called a …
The Cosmos, As Viewed By The James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope was developed to allow us to see the cosmos in a new way -- with much greater precision, using infrared wavelengths to piece through dust around galaxies, stars and planets, and to look further back into time and space. In the less than four months since the first Webb images …
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Clues About Conditions on Early Earth As Life Was Emerging
What set the stage for the emergence of life on early Earth? There will never be a single answer to that question, but there are many partial answers related to the global forces at play during that period. Two of those globe-shaping dynamics are the rise of the magnetic fields that protected Earth from hazardous …
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Did Ancient Mars Life Kill Itself Off?
The presence of life brings many unexpected consequences. On Earth, for instance, when cyanobacteria spread widely in ancient oceans more than two billion years ago, their production of increasingly large amounts of oxygen killed off much of the other anaerobic life present at the day because oxygen is a toxin, unless an organism finds ways …
Where Might Plumes of Water Vapor Come From on Icy Moons?
It's been some years since Europa scientists agreed that the Jovian moon has a large global ocean beneath miles of ice. More recently, scientists have identified what they view as pockets of water surrounded by ice but much nearer the surface than the ocean below. And there has been research as well into what may …
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Many Worlds 