NASA Astrobiology



A volcanically active planet is shown in closeup at the left side of the image with glowing eruptions and lines of lava on the surface. To the right and in the distance is a faint blue glowing ball representing the more massive planet in the system.

Sixteen frames from Voyager 1's flyby of Jupiter in 1979 were merged to create this image. Jupiter's Great Red Spot is visible in the center. Jupiter's moon Europa can be seen in the foreground at the bottom left of the image.

The frame is a horizontal rainbow of color on a grid. Shadows of molecules can be seen through the light as well as the jagged peaks and troughs of spectral lines.

Fizzy Super Earths and Lava Worlds“Fizzy Super-Earths: Impacts of Magma Composition on the Bulk Density and Structure of Lava Worlds.” in The Astrophysical Journal.01/03

Identifying Hydrothermal Activity on Icy Ocean Worlds“Ethene-ethanol ratios as potential indicators of hydrothermal activity at Enceladus, Europa, and other icy ocean worlds.” In Icarus.02/03

NASA Raman Spectroscopic Database"The NASA Raman spectroscopic database: Ramdb version 1.00.” In Icarus.03/03

NextPrevious

Go Explore

April 2024Heat-flux-limited Cloud Activity and Vertical Mixing in Giant Planet Atmospheres with an Application to Uranus and Neptune

Ge, H., Li, C., Zhang, X., & Moeckel, C. (2024) Heat-flux-limited Cloud Activity and Vertical Mixing in Giant Planet Atmospheres with an Application to Uranus and Neptune. The Planetary Science Journal, 5(4). doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad0ed3

RNA-catalyzed evolution of catalytic RNA

Papastavrou, D., Horning, D. P., & Joyce, G. F. (2024) RNA-catalyzed evolution of catalytic RNA. PNAS, 121 (11) e2321592121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2321592121

A call for Indigenous partnership in the return to the Moon

Tavares, F., Vidaurri, M., Denton, A., Grier, J. A. , Harvey, A., Milazzo, M., Olson, H., Prem, P., Scalice, D., Venkatesan, A. (2024) A call for Indigenous partnership in the return to the Moon. Nature Astronomy. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02251-6

March 2024Silica cementation history of the Ediacara Member (Rawnsley Quartzite, South Australia): Insights from petrographic and in situ oxygen isotopic microanalyses

Slagter, S., Tarhan, L. G., Blum, T. B., Droser, M. L., & Valley, J. W. (2024). Silica cementation history of the Ediacara Member (Rawnsley Quartzite, South Australia): Insights from petrographic and in situ oxygen isotopic microanalyses. Precambrian Research, 402, 107288. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2024.107288

Asteroids were born bigger: An implication of surface mass ablation during gas-assisted implantation into the asteroid belt

Ribeiro De Sousa, R., Izidoro, A., Deienno, R., & Dasgupta, R. (2024). Asteroids were born bigger: An implication of surface mass ablation during gas-assisted implantation into the asteroid belt. Icarus, 410, 115910. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2023.115910

The Geochemical Potential for Metabolic Processes on the Sub-Neptune Exoplanet K2-18b

Glein, C. R. (2024). The Geochemical Potential for Metabolic Processes on the Sub-Neptune Exoplanet K2-18b. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 964(2), L19. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ad3079

Oxygen production from dissociation of Europa’s water-ice surface

Szalay, J. R., Allegrini, F., Ebert, R. W., Bagenal, F., Bolton, S. J., Fatemi, S., … Wilson, R. J. (2024). Oxygen production from dissociation of Europa’s water-ice surface. Nature Astronomy. doi:10.1038/s41550-024-02206-x

Ferns as facilitators of community recovery following biotic upheaval

Azevedo-Schmidt, L., Currano, E. D., Dunn, R. E., Gjieli, E., Pittermann, J., Sessa, E., & Gill, J. L. (2024). Ferns as facilitators of community recovery following biotic upheaval. BioScience. doi:10.1093/biosci/biae022

Considerations for Detecting Organic Indicators of Metabolism on Enceladus

Barge, L. M., & Fournier, G. P. (2024). Considerations for Detecting Organic Indicators of Metabolism on Enceladus. Astrobiology, 24(3), 328–338. doi:10.1089/ast.2023.0074

Chapter 5: Major Biological Innovations in the History of Life on Earth

Bozdag, G. O., Szeinbaum, N., Conlin, P. L., Chen, K., Fos, S. M., Garcia, A., … Trubl, G. (2024). Chapter 5: Major Biological Innovations in the History of Life on Earth. Astrobiology, 24(S1), S–107–S–123. doi:10.1089/ast.2021.0119

1/2/3/4/5/6...462