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The mass versus orbital distance of currently discovered and characterized exoplanets. Solar system planets are indicated as well. The hexagonal icons, indicating spectroscopic characterization studied done using JWST, are adopted from Espinoza & Perrin (2025). Direct imaging, currently limited to far out and large planets, will have to advance in sensitivity and contrast ratio to reach Earth-like planets. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Spectral Signatures From The Habitable Zone

by Keith CowingApril 13, 2026April 13, 2026

This work describes the context and approach for the detection of spectroscopic signatures from planets in the habitable zone of nearby stars.

Model transmission spectra comparing several haze compositions on a GJ 1214b-like planet with a temperate waterrich atmosphere. We model a clear atmosphere as well as atmospheres with Titan-like hazes, water-rich exoplanet hazes, and the insoluble and soluble fractions of water-rich exoplanet hazes. Existing Hubble and JWST data of GJ 1214b are also plotted for reference. The top panel displays the full modeled wavelength range of 0.3 to 14.0 µm, and the bottom panels zoom into the wavelength regions with observational data. -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Hydrolyzed Hazes on Water-rich Exoplanets: Optical Constants and Detectability

by Keith CowingApril 10, 2026April 10, 2026

Detrended QLP light curves

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Intelligence & Language, SETI & Technosignatures

A TESS Test of the Hybrid Ring Strategy for Technosignature Searches Using GRB 221009A

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2026April 9, 2026

L-Glutamic-acid — Wikipedia

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Behavior Of Biomolecules Under High-pressure Torsion And Its Implications For Astrobiology

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2026April 5, 2026

Schema of internal workings of the agent object. The agent comprises the LLM, the tools and the context. Figure adapted from Roman & Roman (2026). -- astro-ph.EP

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

Agentic Science Toolkit for Exoplanet Research

by Keith CowingApril 1, 2026April 1, 2026

Schematic of methods used to insert ancestral genes into the host A. vinelandii genome -- Nature Communications

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life

Resurrecting Ancient Enzymes in NASA’s Search For Life Beyond Earth

by Keith CowingMarch 27, 2026March 27, 2026

Input spectra generated with PSG from simulations of modern Earth. The spectra were generated at nine times of day, showing different surface features as the planet rotates (Kofman et al. 2024). A wide diversity in the spectra can be seen, demonstrating the wavelength dependence of the surface features. The black line is an average of all the spectra, representing a longer integration time observation. The data for all of these spectra can be found in the supplementary material. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Retrieving the Red Edge on Earth-like Planets with Heterogeneous Clouds and Surfaces

by Keith CowingMarch 24, 2026March 24, 2026

Pink arrows point to spherical, radiating aggregates of gypsum crystals observed in the lower part of stromatolitic sample from Salar de Pajonales in northern Chile. These structures illustrate gypsum mineralization associated with microbial biosignatures. Credit Tebes-Cayo et al., 2026. -- Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences

Analog Studies, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return

Gypsum Sustains Microbial Life Under Extreme Conditions – This Could Help Us Study Mars

by Keith CowingMarch 23, 2026March 23, 2026

The network of important reactions for the carbon, sulfur, and coupled organosulfur chemistry in the atmosphere of K2-18b. Pathway B (following R. Hu et al. (2025)) dominates the DMS and DMDS production and is highlighted in green. Reaction steps in pathway A (following N. W. Reed et al. (2024)) that are not in pathway B are highlighted in grey. Destruction pathways of DMS and DMDS are highlighted in red. Unimolecular reactions are denoted with dashed lines, bimolecular reactions with solid single lines, and termolecular reactions with solid double lines. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Organosulfur Chemistry On sub-Neptunes: Implications For Hazes And Biosignatures

by Keith CowingMarch 22, 2026March 22, 2026

Potentially habitable worlds - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Searching For Life-As-We-Don’t-Know-It: Mission-relevant Application of Assembly Theory For Exoplanet Life Detection

by Keith CowingMarch 13, 2026March 13, 2026