The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft, en route to Jupiter, conducted a test run on Earth, confirming its habitability. The spacecraft successfully detected key elements for life, including water, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur, demonstrating the capabilities of its instruments for future explorations of Jupiter’s icy moons.
Astronomers have identified a rare exoplanet, Gliese 12 b, located just 40 light-years away and classified as an “exo-Venus”. It is between the size of Earth and Venus and orbits its red dwarf star every 12.8 Earth days. The planet’s temperate nature, similar to Earth’s, makes it an ideal target for studying planetary atmosphere development. Researchers aim to determine if Gliese 12 b has an atmosphere and if it resembles Earth’s or Venus’s dense atmosphere, which will shed light on the divergent evolution of these two planets.
Scientists have identified a new mechanism that allowed water to escape Venus at twice the rate previously estimated, potentially extending the planet’s habitable conditions in the past. This process, known as HCO+ dissociative recombination, effectively dries out the planet by converting water into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, with the latter escaping into space. The discovery suggests that Venus may have harbored oceans for longer than previously thought, providing more time for life to evolve.
