Tag

Habitable

All articles tagged with #habitable

science17 days ago•2 min saved

Radical Sunshield Plan Aims to Keep Earth Habitable as the Sun Fades

A controversial thought experiment outlines a hyper-ambitious plan to keep Earth's habitability as the Sun expands: deploy a gigantic sunshade at the L1 point to block sunlight, power it with lasers from fusion reactors in Jupiter's atmosphere, use asteroid slingshots to move Earth outward, and even propose antimatter injections and future solar-system maneuvers to dodge Andromeda—claims it could extend life for 9.1 million billion years, but it is presented as speculative and not a practical blueprint.

via Futurism|

#astronomy #earth #habitable

science1 month ago•10 min saved

Helium Clues Hint at Earth-like Atmosphere on Distant World LHS 1140b

New observations of exoplanet LHS 1140b—a nearby super-Earth—hint at a helium-rich upper atmosphere and possible Earth-like conditions, based on helium-loss signals observed by Cherubim and colleagues. At ~49 light-years away, orbiting a dim red dwarf with a ~25-day period, direct observations are unlikely for now, but if confirmed the finding would place LHS 1140b on the short list of promising habitable exoplanets.

via Hackaday|

#atmosphere #exoplanets #habitable

space1 month ago•24 min saved

Earth’s Next-Door Exoplanet GJ 3378b: A Close, Possibly Habitable World

Astronomers have identified a nearby exoplanet, GJ 3378b, about 25 light-years away and roughly twice Earth’s size, orbiting in the star’s Goldilocks zone where liquid water could exist; its atmosphere is not yet known, and researchers say further observations are needed to assess habitability and search for biosignatures, with NASA planning a future Habitable Worlds Observatory to probe atmospheric life-signs.

via New York Post|

#exoplanet #gj-3378b #goldilocks-zone

science1 year ago•3 min saved

NASA Study Suggests Ceres May Have Been Habitable

NASA research suggests that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, may have supported single-celled life 2.5 to 4 billion years ago due to a once-present subsurface water reservoir heated by radioactive decay, despite being too cold now to sustain liquid water.

via Universe Today|

#ceres #early-life #habitable

science1 year ago•1 min saved

NASA's James Webb Telescope Discovers and Images Potentially Habitable Exoplanet

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope discovered a potentially habitable planet, TWA 7b, located 34 light years away, using a new high-contrast imaging technique. The planet is about 100 times the size of Earth and has a temperature around 120°F, raising possibilities for life, although visiting it remains far beyond current capabilities.

via The Daily Beast|

#exoplanet #habitable #james-webb-space-telescope

space-science2 years ago•0 min saved

"Revisiting Mars' Watery Past: New Insights and Clues Uncovered"

Scientists believe that Mars may have been habitable for millions of years longer than previously thought, with its surface once covered in oceans, lakes, and rivers resembling early Earth. This raises the possibility of simple life evolving in Martian waters, but not for long enough to develop into complex organisms. The disappearance of liquid water from Mars more than three billion years ago likely ended any nascent life, but the tantalizing prospect remains that life may have thrived there.

via The Times|

#habitable #life #liquid-water

spaceexoplanets2 years ago•2 min saved

"NASA's Webb Telescope Uncovers Potential 'Hycean' Planet with Water Ocean and Signs of Life"

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has provided evidence suggesting the presence of an ocean on a massive exoplanet called K2-18 b, located over 100 light-years away in the constellation Leo. The planet, 8.6 times the mass of Earth, exhibits an atmosphere containing methane and carbon dioxide, consistent with an ocean-covered surface beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. While the detection of dimethyl sulfide raises the possibility of biological activity, further observations are needed to confirm this finding. The planet's large size and potential high-pressure ice mantle may make it inhospitable for life, but the discovery highlights the importance of exploring diverse habitable environments in the search for extraterrestrial life.

via The Washington Post|

#exoplanet #habitable #james-webb-space-telescope

science3 years ago•2 min saved

Moon's Elements Could Support Life, Say Scientists.

Scientists have discovered that Saturn's moon Enceladus has substantial amounts of phosphorus salts, a key chemical element for many biological processes, inside icy particles ejected into space by the small moon's plume, indicating that the moon has the necessary materials to make it habitable. The discovery was made by analyzing frozen spray from the satellite that was collected by NASA's Cassini mission. While having the ingredients is necessary, it may not be sufficient for an extraterrestrial environment to host life.

via Fox News|

#enceladus #habitable #nasa

space3 years ago•5 min saved

Europe's "Juice" mission set to explore Jupiter's icy ocean worlds.

The European Space Agency's Juice mission is set to launch on Thursday to explore Jupiter and its three largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa, which are believed to have subsurface oceans that could potentially harbor life. The spacecraft will take eight years to reach Jupiter and will spend three and a half years orbiting the gas giant and conducting flybys of the moons. The mission aims to determine if the moons are habitable and to search for evidence of the building blocks of life. The spacecraft is equipped with 10 instruments to study the moons' composition, structure, and magnetic fields.

via CNN|

#habitable #icy-moons #juice-mission