A new study prepares for a possible detection of methane biomarkers on exoplanets. Since JWST is primed to see this gas in alien skies, lead author Maggie Thompson & co present new details on how to distinguish it as a bonafide sign of life 🛰️🌌👽 vice.com/en/article/jgm…

In the continuing search for life beyond Earth, UC Santa Cruz researchers say the detection of methane in an exoplanet’s atmosphere could be considered a compelling sign of life. go.ucsc.edu/3Dn0Uir

. Maggie Thompson and Josh Krissansen-Totton lead a new article in PNAS on the case and context for methane (CH4) as a biosignature gas in exoplanet atmospheres! (Likely detectable with NASA Webb Telescope!) Sweet graphic, too: news.ucsc.edu/2022/03/methan… UC Santa Cruz Science UCSC Astrobiology

It's been a great week at the American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting! Alycia Weinberger even managed to get the Carnegie Earth & Planets Laboratory alumni together for a group photo. (Dr./Prof. Meredith MacGregor, Aki Roberge, Maggie Thompson evgenya shkolnik Serge Dieterich)

If this was about babies, there would be universal healthcare. Free education. Free daycare. Southern states would be doing all they can to drop the Black maternal mortality rate. This is about power and control

OWL science in action at UC Santa Cruz!

Super cool paper on CO and ice formation in protoplanetary disks by the AMAZING @DianaPowell8!!! 💫🧊🪐❄️🌟🫧

#AAS241 Early career (interpreted broadly!) attendees please stop by and chat with AAS Early Career Engagement task force members 5:30-6:30pm today at the Exhibit Hall lounge 3 (near AAS booth). We want to hear about your experiences at the meeting and with AAS more generally!

Super excited to be participating in Astronomy on Tap SEA tonight and to talk about all things rocky exoplanets! If you’re at #AAS241 this week, come on by!

Do I spy alumni? We carried on the Carnegie Earth & Planets Laboratory tradition of bringing together current researchers and alumni for a photo at the #AAS meeting! #AAS241 __ Maggie Thompson, Aki Roberge, Jackie Faherty, Dr./Prof. Meredith MacGregor, Hannah Jang-Condell, Shazali, Tri L. Astraatmadja, American Astronomical Society (AAS)

YAYYY!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳

Awesome new paper by the amazing @CallieEHood on the essential things to be aware of when doing atmospheric retrievals at medium spectral resolution!!!! ✨🥳🌟🪐💫

I’m so excited and honored to be a NHFP Sagan Fellow Carnegie Earth & Planets Laboratory and to have the opportunity to study the properties of volatiles in magma planets together with such amazing scientists! 💫☄️🌋

Hey #astrotwitter! Do you have thoughts on how the AAS can improve their services for and engagement with early career astronomers? Then the AAS Early Career Engagement Task Force wants to hear from you! Please take our survey and send to your colleagues! bit.ly/AAS_ECETF

Thank you so much Jonathan Fortney! In this study now out in PSJ, we experimentally determined the outgassing trends of a suite of elements in the Murchison meteorite and investigated how varying pressure, temperature and atmospheric redox state influence these elements’ depletions ☄️

Had a great time chatting with fellow banana slug Frank Timmes about our outgassing experiments with Murchison!

Check out this MASSIVE paper led by Davy Kirkpatrick and heavily contributed to by the volunteers in the backyardworlds citizen science project. The 20pc sample reveals a lot...ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023arXiv2…

Come join us for Zürich's first Astro On Tap HQ event on September 25th! 🌟

Get ready Zurich! We're just two days away from the first Astronomy on Tap event! We've got lots of fun space goodies in store for you 🤩 See you on Wednesday at 18:30 at the Alehouse (Universitätstrasse 23) 🚀