News
Postdoc Spotlight: Jens Barosch studies stardust to understand our Solar System
Postdoctoral Fellow Jens Barosch recently discovered these rare presolar grains in a sample of the asteroid Ryugu, which was returned to Earth via JAXA’s Hayabusa II mission. These grains help us understand the chemical makeup of our cosmic neighborhood before our Solar System was formed. They also help us understand what type of stars birthed the elements that makeup Ryugu, our planet, and even ourselves!
Read more...First Clear, Detailed, Indisputable Evidence Of Carbon Dioxide Found In Exoplanet Atmosphere
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the first clear, detailed, indisputable evidence for atmospheric carbon dioxide ever detected on a planet outside the Solar System. The discovery was announced by the mission’s Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Team, which includes four Carnegie astronomers—Munazza Alam, Anjali Piette, Peter Gao, and Johanna Teske. It will be published next week in Nature.
Read more...Ice-bound carbon monoxide found hiding in planet-forming disks
A team of astronomers including Carnegie’s Peter Gao has solved one of the biggest outstanding mysteries about the environment in which baby planets are born. Their findings are published by Nature Astronomy.
Dust Grains Older Than Our Sun Found In Asteroid Ryugu Samples
Microscopic grains of ancient material that predate our Sun’s birth were found in samples returned from the asteroid Ryugu by the Hayabusa2 mission, according to new work from an international team led by Carnegie’s Jens Barosch and Larry Nittler and published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Read more...Sheppard discusses future of daylight-side asteroid surveys in Science
Carnegie astronomer Scott Sheppard recently wrote a Perspective piece in Science detailing the search for asteroids lurking on the sunny side of Earth.
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A 15-year study led by Carnegie’s Robert Hazen and Shaunna Morrison details the origins and diversity of every known mineral on Earth, a landmark body of work that will help reconstruct the history of life on our planet, guide the search for new minerals and ore deposits, predict possible characteristics of future life, and aid the search for habitable exoplanets and extraterrestrial life.
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