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https://medium.com/p/73815c5498ae: Ask Ethan: Is There A Limit To How Many Generations Of Stars There Can Be?
Starts With a Bang!

Direct link Ask Ethan: Is There A Limit To How Many Generations Of Stars There Can Be?

18 Sep 2020, 14:01 UTC There are only 3 populations of stars, but “generations” is a more complex question.
https://www.universetoday.com/?p=147845: James Webb Will Look for Signs of Life on Planets Orbiting Dead Stars
Universe Today

Direct link James Webb Will Look for Signs of Life on Planets Orbiting Dead Stars

18 Sep 2020, 09:51 UTC Can the galaxy’s dead stars help us in our search for life? A group of researchers from Cornell University thinks so. They say that watching exoplanets transit in front of white dwarfs can tell us a lot about those planets. It might even reveal signs of life.
https://astrobites.org/?p=84876: Life finds a way (even on M dwarfs?)
astrobites

Direct link Life finds a way (even on M dwarfs?)

17 Sep 2020, 16:01 UTC There are lots of stars out there in the Universe, and a large chunk of those are M dwarfs. These are the smallest and reddest stars, coming last in the sequence of spectral types (O, B, A, F, G, K, and last but not least: M). Bonus: since they’re so small and dim, it actually makes it easier to find smaller, terrestrial planets around them! Given that they’re so plentiful and we have a good shot at peering into their habitable zones, it makes sense that we’d want to think about what life on a planet around a M dwarf would be like.
https://www.universetoday.com/?p=147819: Missions Are Already Being Planned to Figure Out What’s Creating the Biosignature on Venus
Universe Today

Direct link Missions Are Already Being Planned to Figure Out What’s Creating the Biosignature on Venus

17 Sep 2020, 02:53 UTC The discovery of phosphine in the upper clouds in Venus’ atmosphere has generated a lot of excitement. On Earth, phosphine is produced biologically, so it’s a sign of life. If it’s not produced by life, it takes an enormous amount of energy to be created abiologically.
https://skyandtelescope.org/?p=255507457040: Race to Venus: How We’ll Verify Phosphine
Sky and Telescope

Direct link Race to Venus: How We’ll Verify Phosphine

16 Sep 2020, 13:12 UTC The detection of phosphine on Venus demands confirmation on two levels. Chemistry labs across the globe are already investigating possible inorganic production routes, to see if anything besides life could account for the molecule’s presence in the atmosphere. The observation itself also requires independent verification. But there are considerable challenges to detecting phosphine’s other chemical fingerprints here on Earth. The solution may come from space.
https://www.nanowerk.com/news2/space/newsid=56150.php: Uranian moons in new light
Nanowerk Space Exploration News

Direct link Uranian moons in new light

15 Sep 2020, 16:07 UTC More than 230 years ago astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus and two of its moons. Using the Herschel Space Observatory, a group of astronomers led by Örs H. Detre of the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy now has succeeded in determining physical properties of the five main moons of Uranus. The measured infrared radiation, which is generated by the Sun heating their surfaces, suggests that these moons resemble dwarf planets like Pluto.
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=45113: What Phosphine Means on Venus
Centauri Dreams

Direct link What Phosphine Means on Venus

15 Sep 2020, 14:10 UTC A biosignature is always going to create a rolling discussion that gradually homes in on a consensus. Which is to say that the recent discovery of phosphine in the upper atmosphere of Venus has inspired a major effort to figure out how phosphine could emerge abiotically. After all, the scientists behind the just published paper on the phosphine discovery seem to be saying something to the community like “We can’t come up with a solution other than life to explain this. Maybe you can.”
https://skyandtelescope.org/?p=255507456972: Potential Biosignature Found in Venus’s Clouds
Sky and Telescope

Direct link Potential Biosignature Found in Venus’s Clouds

15 Sep 2020, 09:29 UTC An international team of researchers led by Jane Greaves (Cardiff University, UK) has announced the detection of phosphine in the cool cloud decks of Venus. If the detection pans out, it might be a sign of life on our sister planet.
https://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=45105: Exploring Tidal Heating in Large Moons
Centauri Dreams

Direct link Exploring Tidal Heating in Large Moons

14 Sep 2020, 15:47 UTC Io, Jupiter’s large, inner Galilean moon, is the very definition of a tortured surface, as seen in the image below, taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1997. Discovering volcanic activity — and plenty of it — on Io was one of the early Voyager surprises, even if it didn’t surprise astrophysicist Stanton Peale (UC-Santa Barbara) and colleagues, who predicted the phenomenon in a paper published shortly before Voyager 1’s encounter. We now know that Io is home to over 400 active volcanoes, making it the most geologically active body in the Solar System.
https://skyandtelescope.org/?p=255507456883: Hubble Images Reveal Dark Matter Problem
Sky and Telescope

Direct link Hubble Images Reveal Dark Matter Problem

14 Sep 2020, 13:38 UTC Astronomers studying Hubble Space Telescope images of massive galaxy clusters have uncovered a potential problem with dark matter.

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