9+ hour, 11+ min ago   (875+ words) [Rutgers University] Europa, one of Jupiter’s icy moons, long has fascinated scientists because of what may lie beneath its frozen shell: a global ocean of liquid water. That hidden ocean has made Europa one of the most compelling places in…...

1+ day, 10+ hour ago   (179+ words) [astro-ph.EP] We study the mass-radius relationship of planets in multiplanet systems as a function of their dynamical architecture. We isolate those planets whose proximity to resonance indicates that they have not undergone significant dynamical instability since formation, and therefore…...

2+ day, 9+ hour ago   (201+ words) Astrobiology Web [q-bio.OT] The emergence of biological complexity can be viewed as a transition from fragmented local interactions to extensive integrated organization, raising the question of how large-scale connectivity emerges from simple interacting elements. We investigated whether this transition…...

3+ day, 9+ hour ago   (187+ words) [astro-ph.IM] Conventional coronagraph architectures struggle to reach the theoretical limit of exoplanet detection at close working angles. Spatial mode-sorting is capable of reaching the theoretical limit, which previous work has calculated for a completely unresolved star whose signal lies…...

4+ day, 11+ hour ago   (238+ words) Astrobiology Web Stellar birth radii were inferred by combining Galactic chemical enrichment models with the generalised additive model introduced in Paper I. Giant-planet hosts preferentially trace inner-Galaxy birth sites, whereas brown-dwarf hosts span a broader, less localised range of radial displacements....

4+ day, 11+ hour ago   (177+ words) [astro-ph.EP] Observations of highly irradiated gas giant exoplanets have shown helium escaping from their atmospheres. There is limited evidence for atmospheres on rocky exoplanets, perhaps because they have already escaped. We report spectroscopic observations of LHS 1140b, a rocky exoplanet…...

4+ day, 10+ hour ago   (213+ words) Astrobiology Web [PLOS Biology] A simple and parsimonious solution assumes the first gene sequences evolved inside dividing protocells, which enables selection for functional sets. But this model of information maintenance does not consider how protocells acquired their genetic information in…...

5+ day, 9+ hour ago   (210+ words) Constraining the stability limits of tightly packed moon systems is therefore essential for transit searches and predicting the number of moons around terrestrial planets. In our Solar System, only three moons orbit the terrestrial planets, motivating the question of whether…...

5+ day, 10+ hour ago   (253+ words) [ESA] The European Space Agency’s terrestrial planet hunter Plato has recently completed a series of key tests inside the Maxwell Test Chamber at ESTEC, demonstrating that its electronic equipment is fit to work in space. Once the chamber was sealed…...

5+ day, 9+ hour ago   (595+ words) Astrobiology Web The abstract in PubMed or at the publisher’s site is linked when available and will open in a new window. Papers deriving from NASA support: - Gong HM, Delligatti CE, Pak HK, Zied A, Mitchell R, Tharakan B, Hein…...