Astrobiology Web

So, what exactly is Astrobiology? Keith Cowing, a biologist with experience in different Astrobiology projects at NASA, has launched a website that serves as a guide to the fascinating field of Astrobiology. This website has received support from the National Space Society and has been recognized for its quality and usefulness by several professional organizations.

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Looking Outward From High Above Our Home World

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

The Milky Way appears beyond Earth’s horizon in this celestial photograph captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit using a camera with low light and long duration settings pointed out a window on the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft. The International Space Station was orbiting 263 miles above the Pacific Ocean just before sunrise. Astrobiology, exoplanet,
Hubble's Multi-Year Search for Exospheres in the TRAPPIST-1 System Reveals Frequent Microflares

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

Ly-α observations provide a powerful probe of stellar activity and atmospheric escape in exoplanetary systems. We present here an analysis of 104 HST/STIS orbits monitoring the TRAPPIST-1 system between 2017 and 2022, covering 3–5 transits for each of its seven planets.
Tides Tighten The Hycean Habitable Zone

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

Hycean planets — exoplanets with substantial water ice layers, deep surface oceans, and hydrogen-rich atmospheres — are thought to be favorable environments for life. Due to a relative paucity of atmospheric greenhouse gases, hycean planets have been thought to have wider habitable zones than Earth-like planets, extending down to a few times 0.001 au for those orbiting M dwarfs. In this Letter, we reconsider the hycean habitable zone accounting for star-planet tidal interaction.
Breakthrough Listen: A Technosignature Search Around 27 Eclipsing Exoplanets Selected from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite Catalogue

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

Here we analyse the archival data for a set of 27 Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) Targets of Interest (TOIs) in search for artificially generated radio signals, or ‘technosignatures’, interrupted by occultation. Exoplanetary eclipses are notable events to observe in the search for technosignatures, as they mark the geometrical alignment of the target, its host star, and Earth.
Tidal Dissipation and Synchronization of the Temperate Exo-Earth LP 791-18d

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

The creep tide theory is used to explore several aspects of the tidal evolution of the planetary system of the M-star LP 791-18. We discuss the early synchronization of the exo-Earth LP 791-18d and show that the trapping of its rotation in a 3:2 spin-orbit resonance would only have been possible if its eccentricity were approximately 0.04 or larger. The planet is likely in synchronous rotation.
Examining The Altadena Drill Hole On Mars

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

As we near the end of our Altadena drill campaign, Curiosity continued her exploration of the Martian bedrock within the boxwork structures on Mount Sharp.
Cooling Effects Of Pluto’s Haze Confirmed By James Webb Telescope Data

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

The first observations of Pluto by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal dramatic phenomena on its surface, like seasonal cycles of volatile ice redistribution across its surface, and material being pulled from its very atmosphere onto its main satellite, Charon—an eerie interaction that happens no where else in our solar system. These exotic conditions are detailed in a series of studies published this spring by an international team of researchers.
The Diversity of Exoplanetary Environments and the Search for Signs of Life Beyond Earth

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

Thousands of exoplanets orbit nearby stars, showcasing a remarkable diversity in mass, size, and orbits. With the James Webb Space Telescope now operational, we are observing exoplanet atmospheres and aiming to reach down to small, habitable-zone exoplanets in search of signs of habitability and possibly even biosignature gases. Given the scarcity of targets, it is imperative to embrace the known diversity and consider the range of exoplanets that might host life.
Micro-Mirror-Devices (MMDs): A New Family of MOEMS for the Habitable World Observatory

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

We present a new program aimed at developing a new generation of micromirror devices specifically tailored for astronomical applications, multi-slit spectroscopy in particular. We first overview the general characteristics of Multi-Object-Spectrographs based on the current Digital Micromirror Devices (DMDs), with particular focus on the newly deployed SAMOS instrument at the 4.1 m SOAR telescope on Cerro Pachon.
JWST Summer School Virtual Registration Is Open

1 week ago | astrobiology.com | Keith Cowing

The inaugural STScI’s JWST Summer School will take place in Baltimore on August 4 to 15, 2025, and focus on High-Redshift Transients with JWST. The first week of the school will focus on high-z transients science, featuring lectures relevant to the field. The second week will focus on observational and analytical techniques and showcase many hands-on exercises.