Interstellar Updates

 

These are items of interest to the interstellar exploration community that we’ve found in our quest for information that will help us advance toward our goals.  If you know of anything we’ve overlooked, or any sources of such information we should monitor, or if you would like to be added to our IRG-updates mailing list and receive these updates in you email every weekday, please send that information to info@irg.space.

You can now search our database of interstellar updates and find items of interest to you.

March 04, 2026 updates

Orbital stability of closely-spaced four-planet systems
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103526000916

Disc Fragmentation. III. The need for a new paradigm for formation of planets within close binary systems
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02395

The Effect of Atmospheric Chemistry on the Optical Geometric Albedos of Hot Jupiters
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02409

Low-energy glycine formation and spectral masking in star-forming regions
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12873171/

Water enrichment of forming sub-Neptune envelopes limited by oxygen exhaustion
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02423

Formation of second-generation stellar populations in globular clusters: the role of binary stars and stellar collisions
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10509-026-04555-7

Constraining the Effects of Pre- and Post-accretionary Processes on Ryugu Insoluble Organic Matter
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae40f9

Analysis of Nongravitational Acceleration of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0038094625601161

The SPHEREx Satellite Mission
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae2be2

Reactivity safety analysis of an air-cooled nuclear thermal propulsion reactor
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468605026000098

Elastic Membrane Cosmology: Chien’s EMC Spatial Resonator: Engineering Blueprint for Macroscopic Vacuum Energy Extraction
https://zenodo.org/records/18857480

March 03, 2026 updates

​Ionic Liquid Biospheres
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/16/3/408

TEPCat: The Transiting Extrasolar Planet Catalogue
https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/12/3/62

Exoplanets – A VLTI perspective
https://zenodo.org/records/18804086

The observation of Earth-like exoplanets with ground-based telescopes and a shared orbiting starshade
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02787-9

An adolescent and near-resonant planetary system near the end of photoevaporation
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02795-9

A whole-planet model of the Earth without life for terrestrial exoplanet studies
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.02267

Beyond solar metallicity: How enhanced solid content in disks reshapes low-mass planet torques
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/03/aa56720-25/aa56720-25.html

Exploring extremophile gas production as a biomarker for early Earth atmospheres
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/exploring-extremophile-gas-production-as-a-biomarker-for-early-earth-atmospheres/2B6119FFC1853E0BAE9D29F3A37794AB

The Dispersed Matter Planet Project Sample – Detection limits, Occurrence Rates and New Planets
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag370/8502147

TOI-6692 b: An Eccentric 130 Day Period Giant Planet with a Single Transit from TESS
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae3d9f

Exomoons and Exorings with the Habitable Worlds Observatory. II. Finding “Endor” with Lunar Eclipses
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae3f20

JWST COMPASS: NIRSpec/G395H Transmission Observations of the Sub-Neptune HD 15337 c
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae2d12

Demonstrating Exoplanet Transit Photometry from Space with a 15 mm Aperture Optical Navigation Camera on Hayabusa2
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae3b28

HET/HPF Observations of Helium in Warm, Hot, and Ultrahot Jupiters
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae42d1

The Effect of Planetary Rotation Period on Clouds in a Global Climate Model with a Bin Microphysics Scheme
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae40b5

Evidence for a Peak at ∼0.3 in the Eccentricity Distribution of Typical Super-Jovian Exoplanets
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae41c3

Evolution of Stellar Activity and Habitable Zone. II. Ca II H and K Emissions of Late-type Dwarfs
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4365/ae3e8e

Chasing the Tides: Searching for Orbital Decay Signatures in Transit Timing Data and Tidal Models for 20 Hot Jupiters
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/ae406a

Magnetic Evolution of Super-Earth Exoplanets With a Basal Magma Ocean
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JE009447

TOI-1080 b: a temperate, rocky planet orbiting a quiet M4V host
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.00385

Planetary Desert around Compact Binaries: Dynamical Instability Triggered by Resonance-Induced Eccentricity Excitation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.00547

Rotational Doppler Cartography of Technosignatures on Unresolved Planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.01032

TESS Hunt for Young and Maturing Exoplanets (THYME) XIV: A Comoving-Based Age Constraint for KELT-20
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.01313

The Intrinsic Multiplicity Distribution of Exoplanets Revealed from the Radial Velocity Method. II. Constraints on Giant Planet Multiplicity from Different Surveys
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.01534

Planet-forming disks and their environment across regions and time from the full NIR census
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.01703

Predicting Gaia astrometry’s ability to constrain the populations of circumbinary planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02198

Ground-based Atmospheric Characterization of Super-Earth L 98-59 d at High Spectral Resolution
https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.02209

An Agnostic Biosignature Based on Modeling Panspermia and Terraforming
https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.14195

March 02, 2026 updates

Mantle Convection and Nightside Volcanism on Lava World K2-141 b
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag390/8501203

Constraints on the Lifespan of Intelligent Technological Civilizations in the Galaxy
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/stag405/8499605

Microgravity affects the nervous system and aging in C. elegans through reduced tactile stimulation
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.16.706116v1

Probing the Atmospheres of Young Long-Period Sub-Neptune Progenitors with ELT/ANDES
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22830

Worlds Next Door. III. Indirect Evidence for Enhanced Atmospheric Metallicity and/or the Presence of Water Clouds in the Nearest Jupiter-analog ε Eri b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23423

Contemporaneous Optical and Near-Infrared Observations of the Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Pre- and Post-Perihelion
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.2358

Active Learning for Planet Habitability Classification under Extreme Class Imbalance
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23666

February 27, 2026 updates

Stringent selection on kinetics of condensation reactions: early steps in chemical evolution
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2026/cp/d5cp03057a

A Narrowband Technosignature Search Toward the Hycean Candidate K2-18b Using the VLA and MeerKAT
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.09553

Abiogenesis in Light of the Cosmological Principle
https://bis-space.com/shop/product/jbis-078-11-0377/

Demonstrating Exoplanet Transit Photometry from Space with a 15 mm Aperture Optical Navigation Camera on Hayabusa2
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae3b28

Random Forest Classification with Physical Feature Engineering for Kepler Exoplanet Candidate Validation
https://tns.ewapub.com/article/view/31874

Mass-Radius Relations and Water Retention in Transiting Exoplanets: A Regime-Based Empirical Study
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/401038407_Mass-Radius_Relations_and_Water_Retention_in_Transiting_Exoplanets_A_Regime-Based_Empirical_Study

Feasibility constraints and detectability of habitable class B stellar engines at maximum performance
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1402-4896/ae4a5c

Constraining the Lifespan of Intelligent Technological Civilization in the Galaxy
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22252

JWST COMPASS: NIRSpec/G395H Transmission Observations of the Sub-Neptune HD 15337 c
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22327

JWST COMPASS: A NIRSpec G395H Transmission Spectrum of Radius Valley-Dweller TOI-260 b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22329

PICASO 4.0: Clouds and Photochemistry in Climate Models of Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22468

JWST-DECO: Temporal Variations in the Mid-IR Silicate Features of Two T Tauri Discs Based on Spitzer and JWST observations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22615

Probing the Atmospheres of Young Long-Period Sub-Neptune Progenitors with ELT/ANDES
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22830

Detection of circumstellar disks around nearby young brown dwarf candidates
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22832

Eating planets makes you younger: The magnetic dynamo rejuvenation of GJ 504 by planetary engulfment
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22979

Characterising the magnetospheric accretion process of DF Tauri’s primary
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23015

TEPCat: The Transiting Extrasolar Planet Catalogue
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23102

Elevated Eccentricities in the Radius Valley Hint at Water-Rich Mini-Neptunes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23250

Dyson spheres on H-R diagram
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23270

TESS Planet Occurrence Rates Reveal the Disappearance of the Radius Valley Around Mid-to-Late M Dwarfs
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.23364

Spaceborne health management standards for autonomous operations: A review and outlook
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576526001323

An adolescent and near-resonant planetary system near the end of photoevaporation
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02795-9

A high-fidelity simulator for evaluation of hemodynamic response during cardiopulmonary resuscitation in hypogravity environments
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-026-00577-1

Discovery of Seven Cold and Distant Brown Dwarfs with JWST RUBIES
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae40f1

Chasing the Tides: Searching for Orbital Decay Signatures in Transit Timing Data and Tidal Models for 20 Hot Jupiters
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/ae406a

The observation of Earth-like exoplanets with ground-based telescopes and a shared orbiting starshade
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-026-02787-9

Exoplanets – The Search for Earth’s Twin
https://link.springer.com/book/9783032226839

Magnetic Evolution of Super-Earth Exoplanets With a Basal Magma Ocean
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JE009447

Quantitative Symmetry-Based Inference in Exoplanet Phase Systems: Toy Model, Coherence Functional, and Stability Bounds in a C12 Framework
https://zenodo.org/records/18747082

Environmental Signatures as C12-Invariant Bundles A Symmetry-First Framework for Coherent Exoplanet Inference
https://zenodo.org/records/18746653

February 26, 2026 updates

Primary Stress Factors and Adaptive Mechanisms of Microalgae in Space Environments and Their Applications in Space Life Support Systems
https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/15/5/697

Space Agriculture: A Comprehensive Systems-Level Review of Challenges and Opportunities
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/24/2541

Human Responses to Magnetic and Hypomagnetic Fields: Available Evidence and Potential Risks for Deep Space Travel
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/15/11/1766 

Planet Migration in Protoplanetary Disks with Rims
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae4029

Rattle-and-Break: the Impact of Planetesimal Scattering on Super-Earth Resonant Chains
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.21349

HATPI Pre-Perihelion Time-series Photometry of the Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.21586

Computing natural magnitudes in the photometric systems of astronomical plates using Gaia DR3 spectral energy distributions
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2026/03/aa57161-25/aa57161-25.html

Spectroscopic Signatures and Photochemical Stability of the ClSO3 and ClOSO2 Radicals: New Benchmarks for Atmospheric and Astrochemical Models
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae3de8/meta

Hierarchical and Democratic Regimes in Multi-Planet Architectures Revealed by Action-Space Entropy
https://www.authorea.com/doi/full/10.22541/au.177187989.95813399

Eccentricity Evolution of Warm Jupiters: The Role of Distant Perturbers and Nearby Companions
https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.11531