Giant planets from far out there
Planets are ubiquitous in the Milky Way. Therefore, building them must be straightforward, right? Not at all!
Small, but powerful
Earth’s atmosphere is about 100 times less massive than Venus’ atmosphere. This gave rise to the idea that Earth had a more massive atmosphere, which got then depleted by impacts. This Astrobite discusses what would have been the optimal impactor size.
Nature’s Starships Vol. II – A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Bloody Cold Beginnings
How and where did the first organic molecules emerge? Sophisticated chemistry models for the synthesis of amino acids within planetesimals can help us to decipher these mysteries.
The Rocky Road to Gas Planet-hood
Why do some planets slightly more massive than Earth have gas envelopes, while others don’t?
Nature’s Starships Vol. I – Ride in on Shooting Stars
Amino acids were possibly brought to Earth by meteorite impacts, which contaminated the young environment with organic compounds. However, where and how did these most basic ingredients of life form in the first place?
Flinging Asteroids into the Habitable Zone
Planets in binary star systems can receive a sizable amount of water from asteroids getting perturbed out of their orbits