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20102026
most citedExoplanet Biosignatures: A Review of Remotely Detectable Signs of Life

529 citations · 3.3k across the 66 of their papers we have counts for

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62 papers · 1 filter

astro-ph.EP2026

Imaging Venus-like Worlds: Spectral, Polarimetric, and UV Diagnostics for the Habitable Worlds Observatory

Stephen R. Kane, Kimberly M. Bott, Kenneth E. Goodis Gordon +15

Understanding planetary habitability requires a comparative approach that explores the divergent evolutionary outcomes of Earth and Venus. The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) wi…

astro-ph.EP2025

The Impact of Extended CO Cross Sections on Temperate Anoxic Planet Atmospheres

Wynter Broussard, Edward W. Schwieterman, Clara Sousa-Silva +3

Our interpretation of terrestrial exoplanet atmospheric spectra will always be limited by the accuracy of the data we use as input in our forward and retrieval models. Ultraviolet…

astro-ph.EP2024

History and Habitability of the LP 890-9 Planetary System

Rory Barnes, Laura N. R. do Amaral, Jessica Birky +42

We present numerous aspects of the evolution of the LP 890-9 (SPECULOOS-2/TOI-4306) planetary system, focusing on the likelihood that planet c can support life. We find that the ho…

astro-ph.EP2024

The TESS-Keck Survey. XXII. A sub-Neptune Orbiting TOI-1437

Daria Pidhorodetska, Emily A. Gilbert, Stephen R. Kane +40

Exoplanet discoveries have revealed a dramatic diversity of planet sizes across a vast array of orbital architectures. Sub-Neptunes are of particular interest; due to their absence…

astro-ph.EP2024★ 3 cited

Artificial Greenhouse Gases as Exoplanet Technosignatures

Edward W. Schwieterman, Thomas J. Fauchez, Jacob Haqq-Misra +6

Atmospheric pollutants such as CFCs and NO have been proposed as potential remotely detectable atmospheric technosignature gases. Here we investigate the potential for artifi…

astro-ph.EP2024

Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOT `EM) Survey. V. Two Giant Planets in Kepler-511 but Only One Ran Away

Yayaati Chachan, Paul A. Dalba, Daniel P. Thorngren +6

Systems hosting multiple giant planets are important laboratories for understanding planetary formation and migration processes. We present a nearly decade-long Doppler spectroscop…

astro-ph.EP2024★ 1 cited

An Overview of Exoplanet Biosignatures

Edward W. Schwieterman, Michaela Leung

This chapter reviews proposed exoplanet biosignatures, including their biological origins, observable features, atmospheric sinks, and potentially confounding abiotic sources. Emph…

astro-ph.EP2024

The Impact of Extended HO Cross-Sections on Temperate Anoxic Planet Atmospheres: Implications for Spectral Characterization of Habitable Worlds

Wynter Broussard, Edward W. Schwieterman, Sukrit Ranjan +3

JWST has created a new era of terrestrial exoplanet atmospheric characterization, and with it the possibility to detect potential biosignature gases like CH. Our interpretati…

astro-ph.EP2024

The effect of lightning on the atmospheric chemistry of exoplanets and potential biosignatures

Patrick Barth, Eva E. Stüeken, Christiane Helling +2

Lightning has been suggested to play a role in triggering the occurrence of bio-ready chemical species. Future missions (PLATO, ARIEL, HWO, LIFE) and ground-based ELTs will investi…

astro-ph.EP2024

Modeling Atmospheric Lines By the Exoplanet Community (MALBEC) version 1.0: A CUISINES radiative transfer intercomparison project

Geronimo L. Villanueva, Thomas J. Fauchez, Vincent Kofman +15

Radiative transfer (RT) models are critical in the interpretation of exoplanetary spectra, in simulating exoplanet climates and when designing the specifications of future flagship…

astro-ph.EP2024

Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE): XII. The Detectability of Capstone Biosignatures in the Mid-Infrared -- Sniffing Exoplanetary Laughing Gas and Methylated Halogens

Daniel Angerhausen, Daria Pidhorodetska, Michaela Leung +6

This study aims to identify exemplary science cases for observing NO, CHCl, and CHBr in exoplanet atmospheres at abundances consistent with biogenic production using a…

astro-ph.EP2024

Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOT 'EM) Survey. IV. Long-term Doppler Spectroscopy for 11 Stars Thought to Host Cool Giant Exoplanets

Paul A. Dalba, Stephen R. Kane, Howard Isaacson +29

Discovering and characterizing exoplanets at the outer edge of the transit method's sensitivity has proven challenging owing to geometric biases and the practical difficulties asso…

astro-ph.EP2023★ 15 cited

Inferring Chemical Disequilibrium Biosignatures for Proterozoic Earth-Like Exoplanets

Amber V. Young, Tyler D. Robinson, Joshua Krissansen-Totton +9

Chemical disequilibrium quantified via available free energy has previously been proposed as a potential biosignature. However, exoplanet biosignature remote sensing work has not y…

astro-ph.EP2023★ 19 cited

Global Chemical Transport on Hot Jupiters: Insights from 2D VULCAN photochemical model

Shang-Min Tsai, Vivien Parmentier, João M. Mendonça +7

The atmospheric dynamics of tidally-locked hot Jupiters is characterized by strong equatorial winds. Understanding the interaction between global circulation and chemistry is cruci…

astro-ph.EP2023★ 36 cited

A roadmap for the atmospheric characterization of terrestrial exoplanets with JWST

TRAPPIST-1 JWST Community Initiative, :, Julien de Wit +80

Ultra-cool dwarf stars are abundant, long-lived, and uniquely suited to enable the atmospheric study of transiting terrestrial companions with JWST. Amongst them, the most prominen…

astro-ph.EP2023

The Importance of the Upper Atmosphere to CO/O Runaway on Habitable Planets Orbiting Low-Mass Stars

Sukrit Ranjan, Edward W. Schwieterman, Michaela Leung +2

Efforts to spectrally characterize the atmospheric compositions of temperate terrestrial exoplanets orbiting M-dwarf stars with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are now underw…

astro-ph.EP2023★ 31 cited

The Demographics of Terrestrial Planets in the Venus Zone

Colby Ostberg, Stephen R. Kane, Zhexing Li +7

Understanding the physical characteristics of Venus, including its atmosphere, interior, and its evolutionary pathway with respect to Earth, remains a vital component for terrestri…

astro-ph.EP2022★ 32 cited

Evaluating the Plausible Range of N2O Biosignatures on Exo-Earths: An Integrated Biogeochemical, Photochemical, and Spectral Modeling Approach

Edward W. Schwieterman, Stephanie L. Olson, Daria Pidhorodetska +7

Nitrous oxide (N2O) -- a product of microbial nitrogen metabolism -- is a compelling exoplanet biosignature gas with distinctive spectral features in the near- and mid-infrared, an…

astro-ph.EP2022★ 16 cited

Earth as an Exoplanet. II. Earth's Time-variable Thermal Emission and Its Atmospheric Seasonality of Bioindicators

Jean-Noel Mettler, Sascha P. Quanz, Ravit Helled +2

We assess the dependence of Earth's disk-integrated mid-infrared thermal emission spectrum on observation geometries and investigate which and how spectral features are impacted by…

astro-ph.EP2022★ 19 cited

Alternative Methylated Biosignatures I: Methyl Bromide, A Capstone Biosignature

Michaela Leung, Edward W. Schwieterman, Mary N. Parenteau +1

The first potential exoplanet biosignature detections are likely to be ambiguous due to the potential for false positives: abiotic planetary processes that produce observables simi…

astro-ph.EP2022

Searching for technosignatures in exoplanetary systems with current and future missions

Jacob Haqq-Misra, Edward W. Schwieterman, Hector Socas-Navarro +9

Technosignatures refer to observational manifestations of technology that could be detected through astronomical means. Most previous searches for technosignatures have focused on…

astro-ph.EP2022★ 15 cited

Disruption of a Planetary Nitrogen Cycle as Evidence of Extraterrestrial Agriculture

Jacob Haqq-Misra, Thomas J. Fauchez, Edward W. Schwieterman +1

Agriculture is one of the oldest forms of technology on Earth. The cultivation of plants requires a terrestrial planet with active hydrological and carbon cycles and depends on the…

astro-ph.EP2021★ 16 cited

Giant Outer Transiting Exoplanet Mass (GOT 'EM) Survey. II. Discovery of a Failed Hot Jupiter on a 2.7 Year, Highly Eccentric Orbit

Paul A. Dalba, Stephen R. Kane, Zhexing Li +13

Radial velocity (RV) surveys have discovered giant exoplanets on au-scale orbits with a broad distribution of eccentricities. Those with the most eccentric orbits are valuable labo…

astro-ph.EP2021

L 98-59: a Benchmark System of Small Planets for Future Atmospheric Characterization

Daria Pidhorodetska, Sarah E. Moran, Edward W. Schwieterman +10

L 98-59 is an M3V dwarf star that hosts three small (R < 1.6 Earth radii) planets. The host star is bright (K = 7.1) and nearby (10.6 pc), making the system a prime target for foll…