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.

November 12, 2025 updates

General Circulation Models of Hycean Worlds
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1948/8321669

HARPS-N, TESS, and CHEOPS† discover a transiting sub-Neptune and two outer companions around the bright solar analogue HD 85426
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1934/8321677

Lithological Controls on Aqueous Phosphorus on Ocean-covered Exoplanets
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ae0d84

Searching for Exoplanets Born Outside the Milky Way: VOYAGERS Survey Design
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07632

Non-Gravitational Acceleration in 3I ATLAS: Constraints on Exotic Volatile Outgassing in Interstellar Comets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07450

Dust Recycling and Icy Volatile Delivery (DRIVE): A Novel Method of Volatile Enrichment in Cold Giant Planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07590

A Closed-Form Analytical Theory of Non-Isobaric Transmission Spectroscopy for Exoplanet Atmospheres
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07656

“Popcorn Planets” are Not Actively Inflated by Eccentricity Tides
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07746

An Overview of Exocomets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.08270

The Exoplanet Edge: Planets Don’t Induce Observable TTVs with a Dominant TTV Period Faster than Half their Orbital Period
https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.09752

Using Stellar Spectral Energy Distributions to Measure Exoplanet Parameters
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07536

November 11, 2025 updates

The Discovery Plateau Hypothesis: a Unified Theory of Knowledge Limits, Multiverse Simulation Reality, and Synthetic Data Harvesting
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5173153

3I/ATLAS – Estimation of the Closest Approach Using Raw JPL Data and the 72 φ-bit Trinamic Metric
https://zenodo.org/records/17541602

China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter captures image of interstellar object older than the solar system
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-11-06/China-s-Mars-orbiter-observes-interstellar-object-3I-ATLAS-1I4DnY6fada/p.html

The interstellar object significance scale (Loeb Scale): astronomical classification of interstellar objects
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/interstellar-object-significance-scale-loeb-scale-astronomical-classification-of-interstellar-objects/33F927C9600721DF14D1AA8525D7EDC0

PLATOSpec: a precise spectrograph in support of space missions
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1972/8317931

THYME. XIII. Two Young Neptunes Orbiting a 75 Myr Star in the Alpha Persei Cluster
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae0a35

Preperihelion Development of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ae1832

Searching for Free-floating Planets with TESS: Results from Sectors 61–65
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae10ab

An Independent Search for Small Long-period Planets in Kepler Data. I. Detection Pipeline
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/adfc50

Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS: Post-Perihelion Evolution, Spectral Variability, and Implications for Extraterrestrial Matter Exchange
https://zenodo.org/records/17565918

Transiting Exoplanets from Sharjah Astronomical Observatory (SAO-M47): The Exoplanet HAT-P-25b Using L and V Filters
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04396

EMPEROR I. Exoplanet MCMC parallel tempering for RV orbit retrieval
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05331

Are We There Yet? Challenges in Quantifying the Frequency of Earth Analogs in the Habitable Zone
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05660

Three New Light Curves and Updated Transit Timings of WASP-135 b
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.06015

Dust distribution in circumstellar disks harboring multi-planet systems. I. Sub-thermal mass planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.06050

A Firefly-inspired Model for Deciphering the Alien
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.06139

November 10, 2025 Updates

Large Scale Directed Energy: The Path to Radical Transformation in Propulsion
https://www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/projects/starlight

The Unfolding of Time: A Logarithmic Model for Astronomical, Biological, and Cultural Evolution
https://www.academia.edu/143991400/The_Unfolding_of_Time_A_Logarithmic_Model_for_Astronomical_Biological_and_Cultural_Evolution

Energy needed to propel a tiny spacecraft to Proxima Centauri
https://pubs.aip.org/aapt/ajp/article/93/11/874/3368439

Radiation Hydrodynamics of Self-gravitating Protoplanetary Disks: I. Direct Formation of Gas Giants via Disk Fragmentation
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19915

The Extraterrestrial Contact Window
https://www.academia.edu/129000327/The_Extraterrestrial_Contact_Window

Space Travel to the Edge of the Universe in Just 44 Years
http://ahadi.de/space_travel.pdf

Volatile distribution inversion and rotation analysis of comet 103P/Hartley 2 using nongravitational effects
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2025/11/aa54487-25/aa54487-25.html

Traversable wormholes admitting non-exotic fluid: Implications of different equations of state in torsion-based gravity
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212686425003516

Detectability of Atmospheric Climate and Biosignatures with the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) for terrestrial-type Exoplanets
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1878/8317168

Precise mass and radius determination for two new and one known Neptune-sized planets around G Dwarf hosts
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1958/8317175

Mass determination of the three long-period Neptune- and sub-Neptune-sized planets transiting TOI-282
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05147

Upper limits on atmospheric abundances of KELT-11b and WASP-69b from a retrieval approach
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05154

Multiplicity of stellar systems in the solar neighbourhood, wide binaries, and planet-hosting stars
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05248

Upper Limits on Radio Emission from the K2-18 System
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.05427

November 07, 2025 updates

Roadmap to the Stars: Space Development Master Plan
https://www.chicagospace.org/roadmap-to-the-stars-space-development-master-plan/

Brief review on influencing factors and future application prospects of laser ablation propulsion
https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S021886352530004X

Discovery of the Tidal Deformation of WASP-103b at 3 σ with CHEOPS
https://zenodo.org/records/17542924

HOW TELESCOPES TRANSFORM OUR UNDERSTANDING OF BLACK HOLES AND HABITABLE EXOPLANETS
https://zenodo.org/records/17531302

Demonstrate the Power of CNN for Exoplanets in Kepler’s Stellar Light Using Deep Learning
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-96-7614-9_24

Composite Adaptive Control for Safety-Critical Spacecraft Proximity Operations
https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/10.2514/1.G008872

Mapping Atmospheric Features of the Planetary-mass Brown Dwarf SIMP 0136 with JWST NIRISS
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae046d

FAUST. XXVIII. High-Resolution ALMA Observations of Class 0/I Disks: Structure, Optical Depths, and Temperatures
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19635

Detectability of Atmospheric Climate and Biosignatures with the Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) for terrestrial-type Exoplanets
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1878/8317168

Precise mass and radius determination for two new and one known Neptune-sized planets around G Dwarf hosts
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1958/8317175

Chasing the storm: Investigating the application of high-contrast imaging techniques in producing precise exoplanet light curves
https://academic.oup.com/mnras/advance-article/doi/10.1093/mnras/staf1909/8314138

An Independent Search for Small Long-period Planets in Kepler Data. I. Detection Pipeline
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/adfc50

Photon-assisted displacement of directionally freeze-dried symmetric graphene aerogels
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264127525013759

Terrestrial iron biosignatures and their potential in solar system exploration for astrobiology
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001282522500279X

The Role of Hydrothermal Processes in the Evolution of Early Earth and Aquaplanets
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781394229185.ch15

Geochemical and Geophysical Controls on Hydrothermal Fluxes on Habitable Worlds
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781394229185.ch14

Early evidence for isotropic planetary obliquities in young super-Jupiter systems
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04091

3D Non-LTE radiation transfer: theory and applications to stars, exoplanets, and kilonovae
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04254

Transiting Exoplanets from Sharjah Astronomical Observatory (SAO-M47): The Exoplanet HAT-P-25b Using L and V Filters
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04396

Dust Collisions in Protoplanetary Disks: Atomic Simulations of the Surface Free Energy
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04423

On the Exoplanet Yield of Gaia Astrometry
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04673

November 06, 2025 updates

Atmospheric collapse and re-inflation through impacts for terrestrial planets around M dwarfs
https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.25896

The evolution and internal structure of Neptunes and sub-Neptunes – The importance of thermal conductivity in non-convective regions
https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2025/11/aa56526-25/aa56526-25.html

Terrestrial Exoplanet Internal Structure Constraints Enabled by Comprehensive Host Star Characterization Reveal That Terrestrial Planets in Mean Motion Resonances Are Water Rich
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae03a5

A Comprehensive Reanalysis of K2-18 b’s JWST NIRISS+NIRSpec Transmission Spectrum
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ae019a

An Analysis of the Radius Gap in a Sample of Kepler, K2, and TESS Exoplanets Orbiting M-dwarf Stars
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae058e

The Distribution of Earth-Impacting Interstellar Objects
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03374

An Adaptive Pseudo-Intelligent Material Hypothesis for the Observed Anomalies of the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/397264326_An_Adaptive_Pseudo-Intelligent_Material_Hypothesis_for_the_Observed_Anomalies_of_the_Interstellar_Object_3IATLAS

Tidally Torn: Why the Most Common Stars May Lack Large, Habitable-Zone Moons
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03625

The Exospace Weather Frontier
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.02871

Determining the impact of post-main-sequence stellar evolution on the transiting giant planet population
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.02896

Formation of Free-Floating Planets via Ejection: Population Synthesis with a Realistic IMF and Comparison to Microlensing Observations
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03246

Life in the dark: Potential urability of moons of rogue planets
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.03392