#exoplanet — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #exoplanet, aggregated by home.social.
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Quantum Physics Could Help Us Find Earth 2.0
https://atlas.whatip.xyz/post.php?slug=quantum-physics-could-help-us-find-earth-20
<p>When astronomers talk about directly imaging an exoplanet that is orbiting a far away star
#astronomers #exoplanet #quantum #physics -
White Paper Makes the Case for a European Exoplanet Interferometer
Like and share if you enjoyed this.
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RE: https://mastodon.social/@proseandpassion/116935425709917770
Where in #space can #planets with #atmospheres be found? C. Cherubim et al. (2026) used #nearinfraredspectroscopy to characterize a #rocky #exoplanet orbiting its host star within the #habitablezone. Planet #LHS1140b exhibits #helium #absorption in its atmosphere, a feature the authors attribute to a helium-dominated #upperatmosphericlayer.
© #StefanFWirth, July 2026, Berlin
Reference
C. Cherubim et al. (2026)
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aea9708 -
💁🏻♀️ TIL: 🪐🔭 For the first time, astronomers have detected an #atmosphere on a rocky #planet in the habitable zone of another #star.
The super-Earth LHS 1140 b, located 50 light years away, shows signs of a #helium dominated atmosphere escaping into #space. Researchers used the WINERED #spectrograph at Las Campanas Observatory to make the ground-based #discovery.
#astronomy #exoplanet #superearth #habitablezone #spectrograph #lhs1140b #science #reddwarf #harvard
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The cosmic shoreline concept was introduced to separate #planets with #atmospheres from those without, by relating the cumulative X-ray and extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) instellation to the planetary escape velocity, using the Solar System planets to anchor the empirical relation.
The #exoplanet community has since attempted to refine the cosmic shoreline to provide a consistent ranking or prioritisation tool for exoplanet observations – i.e., to quickly identify which small #planets are most likely to have retained an #atmosphere.
In a new paper, astronomers use an empirical approach to refine the cosmic shoreline concept.
The Empirical Exoplanet Cosmic Shoreline (EECS) exhibits a significantly steeper slope than previously theorized, while consistently categorising Solar System moons and dwarf planets according to their atmospheric properties.
Applied to planets orbiting M dwarfs, the EECS suggests that a larger fraction retain atmospheres than predicted by classical models, but incorporating revised XUV fluence histories for low-mass M dwarfs reveals severe atmospheric vulnerability.
#astronomy #astrobiology
https://astrobiology.com/2026/06/an-empirical-determination-of-the-cosmic-shoreline-2.htmlPaper by Meni-Gallardo & Pallé (2026):
https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.12865 -
#DerStandard:
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Wie findet man Leben auf weit entfernten Planeten?
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"In der Atmosphäre von Exoplaneten wird eifrig nach Hinweisen auf außerirdisches Leben gesucht. Eine neue Generation von Weltraumteleskopen könnte in dieser Hinsicht für Überraschungen sorgen"https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000315256/wie-findet-man-leben-auf-weit-entfernten-planeten
15.4.2026
#Astronomie #DEPFET #Exoplanet #HD137010b #Leben #Raumfahrt #RNDR #SpaceFlight #Weltraumteleskop
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Here is a problem that has been quietly gnawing at astronomers for decades.
The standard approach to detecting #life on other worlds involves scanning #exoplanet #atmospheres for #oxygen, #methane, and #ozone, whose presence is difficult to explain without #biology.
It's a clever idea, but it carries a hidden flaw. That entire shopping list was written by studying Earth. It is, inevitably, a search for life like us.
The list of ways that #chemistry alone can accidentally mimic these #biosignature gases is growing faster than the list of new ways to detect life.
Each new false positive scenario demands even more information about the #planet to rule it out, and there is a genuine question about whether that information can ever be gathered exhaustively.
But there is a solution.
#Assembly theory doesn't ask what #molecules are present in an #atmosphere. Instead, it asks how hard they were to make.
Every molecule can be assigned an assembly index, a minimum number of construction steps required to build it from basic #chemical building blocks.
Simple molecules are easy to assemble by chance, but truly complex ones, requiring many sequential steps, don't arise without something doing a great deal of deliberate selection.
That something would then be life itself.
#astrobiology #astronomy
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-life.htmlPaper by Walker et al. (2026): https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11086
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We live in a very exciting time: answers to some of the oldest questions humanity has conceived are within our grasp.
One of these is whether #Earth is the only place that harbours #life.
In the last 30 years, the question of whether the Sun is unique in hosting a planetary system has been resoundingly answered: we now know of thousands of #exoplanets orbiting other #stars.
But can we use telescopes to detect whether any of these distant worlds also harbour life?
A promising method is to analyse the gases present in the #atmospheres of these #planets.
Astonishingly, we can identify #molecules present in the atmospheres of exoplanets.
Quantum mechanics causes each atmospheric chemical to have its own distinct barcode-like pattern, which it leaves on the light passing through it.
By collecting starlight that has been filtered through an #exoplanet’s atmosphere, telescopes can see the barcodes of the molecules making up that atmosphere.
To take advantage of this, the planet needs to #transit – pass in front of – the star from our point of view.
#astronomy #astrobiology
https://theconversation.com/how-astronomers-plan-to-detect-the-signatures-of-alien-life-in-the-atmospheres-of-distant-planets-272821 -
Erster Exoplanet mit doppeltem Schweif. Heißer Gasriese WASP-121b verliert Helium in gleich zwei langen Strömen. #Exoplanet #WASP121b #Astronomie #HotJupiter
https://www.scinexx.de/news/kosmos/erster-exoplanet-mit-doppeltem-schweif/ -
WASP-121b: Höllenplanet aus der Kälte. Daten des James-Webb-Teleskops klären Entstehungsort des ultraheißen Gasriesen. #Exoplanet #JWST #WASP121b #astronomie
https://www.scinexx.de/news/kosmos/wasp-121b-hoellenplanet-aus-der-kaelte/ -
#MPIA:
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Wo der extrem heiße Exoplanet Wasp-121b entstand
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"Methan und Siliziumoxid in der Atmosphäre des Planeten deuten auf eine Herkunft in einer Region hin, die dem Bereich der Gas- und Eisriesen in unserem Sonnensystem entspricht"https://www.mpg.de/24499781/ursprung-explanet-wasp-121b
2.6.2025
#Astronomie #Exoplanet #JWST #Methan #NIRSpec #Planetologie #Siliziumoxid #WASP121b #Weltraumteleskop
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Great, interesting study!😊😀
"Multiscale astrobiology with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time"
https://frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2025.1594485/full
#Astrobiology #RubinObservatory #science #Exoplanet #Biosignature #life #universe #LSST -
The recent claims of #biosignature detection in the atmosphere of #exoplanet K2-18b does not convince anyone.
A new paper demonstrates that other non-biological interpretations can also explain the data.
Reanalysing the dataset used in the original biosignature detection paper through multiple other models reveals good fits for models that abiological processes could entirely explain.
One particular model that included the hydrocarbon propyne fit the data better than the model containing DMS and its cousin, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which was interpreted as biosignature detection April.
#astronomy #exoplanets
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-ways-atmosphere-k2-18b.html -
Stoked to find an editorial on the fiery exoplanet WASP-121b "Tylos" in the relaunch issue of Heavy Metal Magazine, by Editor-in-Chief Frank Forte.
#HeavyMetal #HeavyMetalMagazine #Astronomy #Astrodon #Astrophysics #FrankForte #science #WASP121b #Tylos #exoplanet #scifi #sciencefiction #magazine
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Hackaday Links: April 20, 2025 https://hackaday.com/2025/04/20/hackaday-links-april-20-2025/ #vegetativeelectronmicroscopy #HackadayColumns #scientificfraud #Hackadaylinks #hackadaylinks #siliconvalley #biosignature #antikythera #Zuckerberg #crosswalk #deep-fake #exoplanet #JamesWebb #citation #PaloAlto #Slider #K2-18b #Kepler #tooth #DMDS #gear #jwst #Musk #DMS
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Hackaday Links: April 20, 2025 - We appear to be edging ever closer to a solid statement of “We are not alone” in t... - https://hackaday.com/2025/04/20/hackaday-links-april-20-2025/ #vegetativeelectronmicroscopy #hackadaycolumns #scientificfraud #hackadaylinks #siliconvalley #biosignature #antikythera #zuckerberg #crosswalk #deep-fake #exoplanet #jameswebb #citation #paloalto #slider #k2-18b #kepler #tooth #dmds #gear #jwst #musk #dms
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Here the red dwarf #K2-18 photographed last night 17th April 2025 from observatory Y71 Makroskooppi. The Webb telescope has detected possible #biosignature signal of dimethyl sulfide/DMS/DMDS gas in the atmosphere of the super-Earth-sized #exoplanet #K2-18b orbiting it.
The star K2-18 is located under the constellation Leo. In this image, there is a field of view around the star about the size of the moon, the brighter star to the right of K2-18 is HIP 56079 with a brightness of 6.7mag.
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Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible #biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious.
They have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide, in the #atmosphere of the #exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the #habitable zone.
On Earth, theyare only produced by #life, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton.
#astronomy #astrobiology
https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/strongest-hints-of-biological-activity -
So far today, every news report I've read about #exoplanet K2-18b has got its size and distance wrong, and has described the #biosignature chemicals DMS and DMDS as gases (on Earth, they're both colourless, flammable liquids).
It makes you wonder how accurate all the other stories on the news are...
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#Exoplanet mit #Eisenregen und heftigen #Winden
Ein merkwürdiger Jetstream, ein neuartiges #Klima und die Entdeckung von #Titan – eine #Forschungsgruppe hat in die #Atmosphäre des #Exoplaneten Wasp-121 b geblickt.
https://www.golem.de/news/wasp-121-b-exoplanet-mit-eisenregen-und-heftigen-winden-2502-193542.html
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Extrasolarer Gasriese hat dreistöckige Winde. Erste 3D-Kartierung einer Exoplaneten-Gashülle enthüllt einzigartiges Wettermuster. #Exoplanet #Gasriese #Atmosphaere #Astronomie #Planet #WASP121b
https://www.scinexx.de/news/kosmos/extrasolarer-gasriese-hat-dreistoeckige-winde/ -
Die Autorin erzählt unterhaltsam, wie sie mit der Suche nach fremdem Leben eine erfolgreiche Astrophysikerin wurde. Ihr Buch hätte aber von mehr Sorgfalt profitiert. Eine Rezension
Die Astrophysikerin Lisa Kaltenegger beschreibt ihren Werdegang und berichtet von ihrer Forschung. Ein unterhaltsames Buch – mit Ungenauigkeiten. Eine Rezension (Rezension zu Alien Earths von Lisa Kaltenegger)#Astrophysik #Astronomie #Universum #Weltraum #Weltall #All #Physik #Biosphäre #Astrobiologie #außerirdisch #extraterrestrisch #Sonne #Planet #Exoplanet #Alien #JamesWebbTeleskop #Raumfahrt #Kosmologie #CarlSagan #HaraldLesch #StephenHawking #NeildeGrasseTyson #Kopernikus #Supernova #Milchstraße
»Alien Earths«: An der Schwelle zu neuem Leben -
CW: LHS 1140 b may be our 'best bet' at finding a habitable exoplanet with ocean(s) and atmosphere
LHS 1140 b “lives in its star's habitable zone, otherwise known as its ‘Goldilocks zone.’"
“This is the first time we have ever seen a hint of an atmosphere on a habitable zone rocky or ice-rich exoplanet," said Ryan MacDonald, a NASA Sagan Fellow
“the team might have even found evidence of ‘air’ on it.
#LHS1140b #habitable #exoplanet
https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-alien-ocean-lhs-1140b -
#SuperEarth discovered
Could have oceans and may be habitable
The #planet orbits a #reddwarfstar in its habitable zone
Temperatures could potentially support #liquidwater on the surface.
#LHS1140b, an #exoplanet located approximately #48lightyears away in the constellation #Cetus.
https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/science/story/super-earth-discovered-it-could-have-oceans-and-may-be-habitable-2564275-2024-07-09 -
Long article on the combined #exoplanet hunting method from the previous post in the thread: https://www.expressnews.com/business/article/hunting-planets-san-antonio-astrophysicist-uses-18090895.php - the first author "says combining #astrometry and direct imaging strategies should lead to the discovery of more exoplanets — and he’s already been reviewing data from #Gaia and Hipparcos to get a bead on more catalogued stars with orbiting companions."
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"HIP 99770 b is the first #exoplanet ever discovered jointly through direct imaging and #astrometry and the first discovery leveraging on μ-arcsecond precision #Gaia astrometry": https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.00034
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A detection of a superjovian #exoplanet around the dusty A star HIP 99770 using precision #astrometry and direct imaging.
The #planet HIP 99770 b is in a low-eccentricity orbit 16.9 au from the primary, receiving about as much light as #Jupiter does from the Sun.
This discovery is a proof-of-concept for a fundamentally new strategy for finding imageable planets: selecting targets based on dynamical evidence from indirect methods like astrometry.
