News Archive / Tagged: habitability

• First exoplanet targets recommended for Webb observation

  Laurel KornfeldMarch 27th, 2022

  Now that the James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror has been aligned successfully, scientists are identifying the first exoplanets for observation.

• Mars and Titan: Two very different potentially habitable worlds

  Laurel KornfeldMarch 23rd, 2021

  Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan are at the forefront of the search for habitable solar system worlds, but they are very different from one another in terms of the presence of liquid, temperature variations, and the presence of organic compounds, planetary scientist Vincent Chevrier of the University of Arkansas noted in a March 12 online […]

• Pluto’s subsurface ocean may date back to planet’s formation

  Laurel KornfeldJune 29th, 2020

  Scientists who recently studied the detailed images of Pluto’s surface returned by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 have found evidence that the dwarf planet’s subsurface ocean may have been around since Pluto’s formation over four billion years ago.

• Map depicting radiation on Europa could help direct upcoming missions

  Laurel KornfeldJuly 27th, 2018

  Jupiter's moon Europa, which likely hosts a global subsurface ocean, is one of the most promising locations for finding microbial life beyond Earth in our solar system. However, its parent planet, Jupiter, bombards the moon with radiation that could seriously diminish its habitability.