Habitability
Dark Oxygen Could Change Our Understanding of Habitability
The discovery of dark oxygen at an abyssal plain on the ocean floor generated a lot of interest. Could this…
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…
Ocean Salinity Affects Earth’s Climate. How About on Exoplanets?
There's a link between Earth's ocean salinity and its climate. Salinity can have a dramatic effect on the climate of…
Elliptical Orbits Could be Essential to the Habitability of Rocky Planets
A seismic shift occurred in astronomy during the Scientific Revolution, beginning with 16th-century polymath Copernicus and his proposal that the…
Habitable Planet’s Orbiting Red Dwarf Suns Could at Risk from Far-Ultraviolet Radiation
The question of whether or not red dwarf stars can support habitable planets has been subject to debate for decades.…
Planetary Habitability Depends on its Star’s Magnetic Field
The extrasolar planet census recently passed a major milestone, with 5500 confirmed candidates in 4,243 solar systems. With so many…
The Ultraviolet Habitable Zone Sets a Time Limit on the Formation of Life
The field of extrasolar planet studies has grown exponentially in the past twenty years. Thanks to missions like Kepler, the…
What Deadly Venus Can Tell Us About Life on Other Worlds
Even though Venus and Earth are so-called sister planets, they're as different as heaven and hell. Earth is a natural…
Earth’s Long-Term Habitability Relies on Chemical Cycles. How Can We Better Understand Them?
We, and all other complex life, require stability to evolve. Planetary conditions needed to be benign and long-lived for creatures…
The LIFE Telescope Passed its First Test: It Detected Biosignatures on Earth.
We know that there are thousands of exoplanets out there, with many millions more waiting to be discovered. But the…