Are there signs of life on alien planet K2-18b, or is it just a lot of hot air?
An ocean world that's teeming with microbes — and who knows what other kinds of life — is currently the best explanation for some chemical signatures that the James Webb Space Telescope has spotted in the atmosphere of a distant planet.
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/16/nx-s1-5364805/signs-life-alien-planet-biosignatures-exoplanet?utm_source=globalmuseum #space #planets #aliens #jameswebbspacetelescope
Researchers at Cambridge and Cardiff Universities have detected signs of molecules which on Earth are only produced by simple organisms on a planet called K2-18b. "This is the strongest evidence yet there is possibly life out there".
While not 100% conclusive, the research suggests K2-18b could have an ocean which could be potentially full of life.
Using the James Web Space Telescope researchers found that K2-18b's atmosphere seems to contain the chemical signature of at least one of two molecules that are associated with life: dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and dimethyl disulphide (DMDS). https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39jj9vkr34o #Lifeinspace #space #K2a8b #planets #JWST #universe #science #cambridgeuniversity #dimethylsulphide #dimethyldisulphide
Scientists have found what they call the strongest signs yet of possible life beyond our solar system, detecting in an alien planet's atmosphere chemical traces of gases only produced on Earth by biological processes. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/04/17/world/evidence-life-on-alien-planet/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #worldnews #space #planets
The protoplanetary material that coalesced to form the Earth had lots of intrinsic hydrogen bound with sulphur - probably enough to support hypothesis that Earth's water came from outgassing of mantle rather than being supplied by comets and asteroids.
#geology #planets #EarthHistory
https://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/article/scientists-uncover-crucial-evidence-origin-water-earth
Chandrila
Chandrila was a planet in the Core Worlds of the galaxy. The female human Mon Mothma hailed from Chandrila, and represented her homeworld in the Senate of the Galactic Republic. It was also the homeworld and birthplace of Ben Solo.
That includes the Nancy Grace Roman Space #Telescope, which has been designed to study distant #galaxies & faraway #planets from an orbital outpost about a million miles from Earth. The hardware of the Roman is in place & being integrated & tested at #NASA’s Goddard #Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. The Roman is scheduled to launch as early as Sept 2026.
Have We Been to Uranus? We Asked a NASA Expert: Episode 56 https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/smd/have-we-been-to-uranus-we-asked-a-nasa-expert-episode-56/ #NASA #ScienceMissionDirectorate #PlanetaryScience #PlanetaryScienceDivision #Planets #TheSolarSystem #Uranus
https://www.europesays.com/uk/6715/ Hubble Helps Determine Uranus’ Rotation Rate with Unprecedented Precision #AstrophysicsDivision #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #HubbleSpaceTelescope #PlanetaryScience #Planets #Science #Space #TheSolarSystem #UK #UnitedKingdom #Uranus
Hubble Helps Determine Uranus’ Rotation Rate with Unprecedented Precision https://science.nasa.gov/missions/hubble/hubble-helps-determine-uranus-rotation-rate-with-unprecedented-precision/ #NASA #AstrophysicsDivision #GoddardSpaceFlightCenter #HubbleSpaceTelescope #PlanetaryScience #Planets #TheSolarSystem #Uranus
A #unibern and #NCCR PlanetS team has developed a machine learning model that predicts potential #planetary systems with Earth-like #planets. It could significantly accelerate and revolutionize the search for habitable #planets in the universe.
https://mediarelations.unibe.ch/media_releases/2025/media_releases_2025/where_to_find_the_next_earth/index_eng.html
Importance Score: 45 / 100
Accurate Measurement Refines Uranus Day Length
Uranus as seen by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1986
Scientists have achieved a more precise calc...
More » https://newsflash.one/2025/04/09/how-long-is-a-day-on-uranus-slightly-longer-than-we-thought-it-seems/?feed_id=923917&_unique_id=67f61551d8c58
APOD from 2025-04-08
#Moon Visits Sister Stars
The Moon's orbit led to an occultation of the Pleiades star cluster, a rare event where it passes in front. This epoch lasts from 2023-2029, with the next in 2042. A composite image from Spain highlights the cluster's blue glow.
HD image at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250408.html#space #astronomy #planets
Importance Score: 70 / 100
A groundbreaking mission concept, known as LIFE (Large Interferometer For Exoplanets), proposes a fleet of space telescopes designed to invest...
More » https://newsflash.one/2025/04/07/how-rare-are-inhabited-worlds-in-the-universe-the-life-space-telescope-fleet-could-find-out/?feed_id=921954&_unique_id=67f44cc29193b
What if we spend decades building advanced telescopes to search for #life on other #planets and come up empty-handed?
If scientists examine 40–80 planets and find no signs of life, they can confidently conclude that fewer than 10–20% of similar planets harbor life.
However, this depends heavily on how certain we are about each observation.
Such a finding would enable scientists to put a meaningful upper limit on the prevalence of life in the #universe.
https://astrobiology.com/2025/04/what-if-we-find-nothing-in-our-search-for-life-beyond-earth.html
Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #423: Quaoar.
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#quaoar #dwarfplanets #astronomy #space #strangebuttrue #weirdplanets #planets #solarsystem #strangenewworlds #pluto #neptune #weywot #funfacts #facts #didyouknow #comics #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn
