NASA Astrobiology

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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

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March 2026A Panspermia Origin for Venus Cloud Life

Guinan, E., Austin, T. J., O’Rourke, J. G., Izenberg, N. G., Silber, E. A., & Trembath‐Reichert, E. (2026). A Panspermia Origin for Venus Cloud Life. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 131(4), None. doi:10.1029/2025je009296

February 2026Seven genome sequences of bacterial environmental isolates from the western coast of the Greenland Ice Sheet

Dieser, M., Smith, H. J., Caruso, K., & Foreman, C. M. (2026). Seven genome sequences of bacterial environmental isolates from the western coast of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Microbiology Resource Announcements. doi:10.1128/mra.01192-25

The stellar origins of 96 Zr excesses in presolar graphites from the Murchison meteorite

Pal, I., Jadhav, M., Shulaker, D. Z., Raiwa, M., Savina, M. R., Bouillion, H., … Amari, S. (2026). The stellar origins of 96 Zr excesses in presolar graphites from the Murchison meteorite. Astronomy & Astrophysics. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202556719

Formation Age of Ernutet Crater, Ceres, and Implications for Origin of the Organics

Kirchoff, M., Marchi, S., & Cochran, M. (2026). Formation Age of Ernutet Crater, Ceres, and Implications for Origin of the Organics. The Planetary Science Journal, 7(2), 40. doi:10.3847/psj/ae3568

Organic Cofactors in the Electron Transport Chain: Properties and Connection to the Prebiotic World

Riazi‐Sekowski, S., Bundang, K., Chastain, J. L., Carman, N., Velling, S. J., Aguilera, J., … Weber, J. M. (2026). Organic Cofactors in the Electron Transport Chain: Properties and Connection to the Prebiotic World. ChemSystemsChem, 8(2), None. doi:10.1002/syst.202500037

A Mars Microbial Survival Model: Calculating Bioburden Reductions for Past Mars Spacecraft to Estimate Forward Contamination on Mars

Bischof, G., Moores, J. E., Ordinaria, R., & Schuerger, A. C. (2026). A Mars Microbial Survival Model: Calculating Bioburden Reductions for Past Mars Spacecraft to Estimate Forward Contamination on Mars. The Planetary Science Journal, 7(2), 37. doi:10.3847/psj/ae38b4

Revisiting the Bio-Inorganic Bridge 25 Years Later

Robbins, L. J., Mughal, S., Mahmoudi, N., Mills, D. B., Rucker, H. R., Stüeken, E. E., … Konhauser, K. O. (2026). Revisiting the Bio-Inorganic Bridge 25 Years Later. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. doi:10.1146/annurev-earth-040523-125151

Universal paralogs provide a window into evolution before the last universal common ancestor

Goldman, A. D., Fournier, G. P., & Kaçar, B. (2026). Universal paralogs provide a window into evolution before the last universal common ancestor. Cell Genomics, None, 101140. doi:10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101140

Molecular Hydrogen Controls the Temperatures of Flares on TRAPPIST-1

Shapiro, A. I., Kostogryz, N., Seager, S., Witzke, V., De Wit, J., Vasilyev, V., … Solanki, S. K. (2026). Molecular Hydrogen Controls the Temperatures of Flares on TRAPPIST-1. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 998(1), L7. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ae328b

January 2026Two temperate Earth- and Neptune-sized planets orbiting fully convective M dwarfs

Scott, M. G., Dransfield, G., Timmermans, M., Triaud, A. H. M. J., Rackham, B. V., Barkaoui, K., … Zúñiga-Fernández, S. (2026). Two temperate Earth- and Neptune-sized planets orbiting fully convective M dwarfs. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. doi:10.1093/mnras/stag070

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