Related papers: Potential for Observing Methane on Mars Using Eart…
The frequently discovered flooding structure on Mars and other planets has long been an intriguing mystery remained un-disclosed so far. Considering that on Earth, quite a few low melting point liquid metals or their alloy can be candidates…
Recent observations have evidenced traces of methane CH4 heterogeneously distributed in the martian atmosphere. However, because the lifetime of CH4 in the atmosphere of Mars is estimated to be around 300-600 years on the basis of…
While dust is a key parameter of Mars climate, its behaviour from one year to the next can appear erratic. This variability is notably related to Global Dust Storms (GDS) which occur only certain years with different onset, duration and…
Spectral observations of Neptune made in 2019 with the MUSE instrument at the Very Large Telescope in Chile have been analysed to determine the spatial variation of aerosol scattering properties and methane abundance in Neptune's…
Planet Mars past environmental conditions were similar to the early Earth, but nowadays they are similar to those of a very cold desert, irradiated by intense solar UV light. However, some terrestrial lifeform showed the capability to adapt…
The Mars Life Explorer (MLE) mission concept offers a critical opportunity to investigate whether extant life exists within the mid-latitude ice deposits of Mars. However, MLE's current science traceability matrix emphasizes habitability…
We present three near-infrared spectra of Pluto taken with the IRTF and SpeX, an optical spectrum of Triton taken with the MMT and the Red Channel Spectrograph, and previously published spectra of Pluto, Triton, and Eris. We combine these…
We present a radiative transfer analysis of latitudinally resolved H (1.487-1.783 micron) and K (2.028-2.364 micron) band spectra of Uranus, from which we infer the distributions of aerosols and methane in the planet's atmosphere. Data were…
Molecules present in exoplanetary atmospheres are expected to strongly influence the atmospheric radiation balance, trace dynamical and chemical processes, and indicate the presence of disequilibrium effects. Since molecules have the…
A new generation of low frequency radio telescopes is seeking to observe the redshifted 21 cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR), requiring innovative methods of calibration and imaging to overcome the difficulties of widefield low…
Earth's deciduous plants have a sharp order-of-magnitude increase in leaf reflectance between approximately 700 and 750 nm wavelength. This strong reflectance of Earth's vegetation suggests that surface biosignatures with sharp spectral…
Martian atmospheric neon (Ne) has been detected by Viking and also found as trapped gas in Martian meteorites, though its abundance and isotopic composition have not been well determined. Because the timescale of Ne loss via atmospheric…
Here we discuss one of the current reservoirs of water on Mars, the regolith and rocks exposed at the surface. This reservoir is characterized by the presence of H_{2}O- and OH- bearing phases that produce a broad absorption at a wavelength…
Airborne dust plays an active role in determining the thermal structure and chemical composition of the present-day atmosphere of Mars and possibly the planet's climate evolution over time through radiative--convective and cloud…
We investigate the physical characteristics of the Solar System's proposed Planet Nine using modeling tools with a heritage in studying Uranus and Neptune. For a range of plausible masses and interior structures, we find upper limits on the…
The quest for other habitable worlds and the search for life among them are major goals of modern astronomy. One way to make progress towards these goals is to obtain high-quality spectra of a large number of exoplanets over a broad range…
One of the frontier research fields of exoplanetary science is the study of the composition and variability of exoplanetary atmospheres. This field is now moving from the gas giant planets towards the smaller and colder telluric planets,…
Mars exploration motivates the search for extraterrestrial life, the development of space technologies, and the design of human missions and habitations. Here we seek new insights and pose unresolved questions relating to the natural…
We present a concept for using a polarization sensitive multispectral lidar to map the seasonal distribution and exchange of volatiles among the reservoirs of the Martian surface and atmosphere. The LIDAR instrument will be a…
The origin of the martian methane is still poorly understood. A plausible explanation is that methane could have been produced either by hydrothermal alteration of basaltic crust or by serpentinization of ultramafic rocks producing hydrogen…