Imaging & Spectroscopy – Page 6 – My WordPress Site

Transit spectrum of K2-18 b based on the detection with Kepler (Montet et al. 2015) and characterisation with HST/WFC (Benneke et al. 2017), Spitzer (Benneke et al. 2019), JWST/NIRISS &/NIRSpec (Madhusudhan et al. 2023; Schmidt et al. 2025) and JWST/MIRI (Madhusudhan et al. 2025; Liu et al. 2025). Different panels compare different pipelines for the NIRISS and NIRSpec analyses. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy

The Atmosphere Of K2-18 b: The Role Of Hazes, Clouds And Photoelectrons

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2026March 30, 2026

A region in Ursa Major with maps of individual simulation components and their sum; these have been evaluated for a spectral channel centered on 0.803 µm. The color schemes vary in order to best illustrate the features of the individual signals. Notice how the scan pattern manifests in several of the components. The contributing images were generated with the Sky Simulator described in B. P. Crill et al. (2025). Real flag masks (Sec. 3.2) have been applied and are most noticeable at the centers of bright stars. -- astro-ph.IM

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Missions & Hardware

Spectral Map Making With SPHEREx

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2026March 30, 2026

Upper Panels. Maps of N×ρ for CO, CO2, CH4, CH3OH, and H2O. The white arrow shows the projected direction of the Sun. Lower. Maps of molecular rotational temperatures. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar

Coma Physics Of An Interstellar Object: JWST Spatial-Spectral Mapping Of 3I/ATLAS

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2026March 30, 2026

Preflight microscopic image of C. elegans worms expressing fluorescent labels, reporting on changes in gut, nerve, and muscle function as part of C. elegans Biological Investigation on Microbiome Effect in Space (CBIOMES). NASA ID: jsc2026e014315 larger image Credit: Baylor College of Medicine. Date Created:2026-03-23

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Space Life Science, Space Physiology & Medicine, Space Stations

Space Biology: CBIOMES Preflight Microscopic Imagery Of C. elegans

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2026March 29, 2026

Observed Stereoisomeric Ratio (OSR) - defined as the column density ratio between the higher and the lower-energy isomer - for the different stereoisomeric pairs gathered in Table 1 (points), overlaid with the thermodynamic equilibrium prediction (g×e−∆E/Tkin at g = 1, colored area), as a function of the relative energy (∆E= Ehigher- Elower) between isomers. The points corresponding to the detections are colored according to the particular source Tkin (see Tables 1 and 2), following the color code of the vertical bar. For CH3CH2OH, CH3CH2OCHO, CH2CHCH2CN, CH3CH2CH2CN and (CH3)2CHOH, the observational points were “corrected” (indicated with *) accounting for the double degeneracy of one of the isomers in the pair (the higher-energy for the first three, the lower-energy for the last two), multiplying the corresponding ratios shown in Table 1 by 1/g=1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 2 and 2, respectively, to match the displayed thermodynamic prediction which omits this fact. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Interstellar Stereoisomerism

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2026March 29, 2026

Cold Brown Dwarf Full image and caption Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Brown Dwarfs, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy

The Coldest Known Y Dwarfs: Estimates of their Effective Temperatures

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2026March 29, 2026

Radius-density diagram of confirmed exoplanets from the NASA Exoplanet Archive with radii below 5 R⊕ and mass and radius measurements significant at better than 4σ. The best-fit Gaussian mixture model, described in Section 6, is shown by the purple contours and has been rescaled for visibility. The model approximately recovers the loci of super-Earths (tan), sub-Neptunes (green), and Neptune-like planets (blue). A fourth component contains planets that do not belong to those main groups, including the mega-Earths (red), such as GJ 523b, and other high-density outliers (black). The observational mega-Earth class is indicated by the red arrows (Rp ≥ 2.1 R⊕, ρp ≥ 5.5 g cm−3). -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy

GJ 523b Is A Massive, 170 Myr-old Mega-Earth, Likely On A Polar Orbit

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2026March 29, 2026

TRES RV observations of HD 12800. We mark the dates of announcement (2022-06-13) and official retraction (2024-05-27) for the Gaia DR3 planet candidate. Our observations would have easily detected the RV signal expected from the Gaia DR3 orbital solution, and independently verify that the companion does not exist. While in this case the ultimate result is a non-detection, this nonetheless serves to demonstrate the value of intermediate-precision (≈10 m s−1 ) RV observations for the follow-up of Gaia astrometric exoplanet candidates. -- astro-ph.EP)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Stellar Cartography

A Planetary Illusion’s Funeral: Non-detection of a Gaia DR3 Exoplanet Candidate, and the Role of Intermediate-precision Radial Velocities in Gaia Exoplanet Follow-up

by Keith CowingMarch 28, 2026March 28, 2026

benzonitrile cation -- Wikipedia

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar

Benchmarking Astrochemistry Paradigms: Relative Absence of C6H5CN+ in the Diffuse ISM

by Keith CowingMarch 27, 2026March 27, 2026

D/H ratios in solar system and extrasolar sources. Ratios are for methane except when noted otherwise. Sources for which the D/H ratio in c−C3H2 was used to estimate the D/H in CH4 are denoted with a ⋆. References and values for each object are given in Extended Data Table 3. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Isotopic Signature of Organic Molecules from Beyond the Solar System: An Enriched Methane D/H Ratio in the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

by Keith CowingMarch 27, 2026March 27, 2026