{"id":5111,"date":"2021-04-05T00:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T08:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=5111"},"modified":"2021-04-05T12:05:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T20:05:25","slug":"winter-2021-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/04\/05\/winter-2021-newsletter\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter 2021 Newsletter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Welcome to our Winter 2021 Newsletter, the first in a new series of quarterly updates focused on highlighting our program members&#8217; latest and greatest scientific publications and progress!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this edition you can learn about a powerful new technique to measure the mass of small exoplanets and learn about their interiors, as well as new studies to rigorously test claims that a possible sign of life, phosphine, was discovered in the Venus atmosphere.&nbsp;&nbsp; And there\u2019s more science, as well as&nbsp; faculty, student and alumni news<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-nk-awb nk-awb nk-awb-ZzHvnO\" data-ghostkit-styles=\".nk-awb-ZzHvnO { padding-left: 100px; padding-right: 100px; padding-top: 50px; padding-bottom: 50px; }\"><div class=\"nk-awb-wrap\" data-awb-type=\"image\" data-awb-image-background-size=\"cover\" data-awb-image-background-position=\"4% 8%\" data-awb-parallax=\"scroll\" data-awb-parallax-speed=\"0.5\" data-awb-parallax-mobile=\"true\"><div class=\"nk-awb-inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-5123 jarallax-img\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633-576x1024.jpg 576w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633-768x1365.jpg 768w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633-864x1536.jpg 864w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633-500x889.jpg 500w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/0spQ8NKaWy3H5EUWWb1SzE1B2k7dEns728EVkWupk9k-e1614035869633-800x1422.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1080px) 100vw, 1080px\" \/><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-nk-awb nk-awb round-corners nk-awb-Z28p3Of\" data-ghostkit-styles=\".nk-awb-Z28p3Of { margin-top: 0px; padding-right: 20px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 20px; }\"><div class=\"nk-awb-wrap\" data-awb-type=\"color\"><div class=\"nk-awb-overlay\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.95);\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=4799\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Refining Key Properties of TRAPPIST-1 Planets<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=4799\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-TRAPPIST-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5113\" width=\"450\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-TRAPPIST-1.jpg 900w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-TRAPPIST-1-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-TRAPPIST-1-768x341.jpg 768w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-TRAPPIST-1-500x222.jpg 500w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-TRAPPIST-1-800x356.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color\">A team of astronomers led by UWAB Professor Eric Agol (Astronomy) spent the last 4 years making numerous observations of the TRAPPIST-1 system and were able to use that data to greatly refine key properties of the planetary system and have helped pave the way for better and future observations of the planets using the James Webb Space Telescope.<br><br> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=4799\" target=\"_blank\">Read All About their Work Here &gt;&gt;<\/a> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-nk-awb nk-awb round-corners nk-awb-16sYA3\" data-ghostkit-styles=\".nk-awb-16sYA3 { padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 10px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; }\"><div class=\"nk-awb-wrap\" data-awb-type=\"color\"><div class=\"nk-awb-overlay\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.95);\"><\/div><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=5112\" target=\"_blank\">Science in Action: Challenging the Phosphine on Venus Claim<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=5112\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-Venus.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5114\" width=\"450\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-Venus.jpg 900w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-Venus-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-Venus-768x341.jpg 768w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-Venus-500x222.jpg 500w, https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/UWAB-Newsletter-Winter-2021-Venus-800x356.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color\">In September 2020 a team led by British researchers published an apparent detection of phosphine in the clouds of Venus. Now a team of researchers from the Virtual Planetary Laboratory, and led by recent UWAB graduate Andrew Lincowski and UWAB Program Director Victoria Meadows, have conducted a follow-up analysis of both the discovery data and its interpretation as being due to phosphine, and have come up with an alternative explanation: that\u00a0the signal purported to be phosphine is more likely sulphur dioxide.<br> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=5112\" target=\"_blank\">Read All About their Work Here >><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color\">Program News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#6a8035;color:#6a8035\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/?p=5152\" target=\"_blank\">Spring 2021 Colloquium Series Announced<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/03\/03\/eliah-overbey-earns-graduate-certificate-in-astrobiology\/\" target=\"_blank\">E<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/03\/03\/eliah-overbey-earns-graduate-certificate-in-astrobiology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">l<\/a><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/03\/03\/eliah-overbey-earns-graduate-certificate-in-astrobiology\/\" target=\"_blank\">iah Overbey Earns Graduate Certificate in Astrobiology<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/19\/uwab-prof-jodi-young-awarded-2021-sloan-research-fellowship\/\" target=\"_blank\">Prof. Jodi Young Awarded 2021 Sloan Research Fellowship<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/01\/25\/prof-john-baross-featured-in-new-nasa-calendar\/\" target=\"_blank\">Prof. John Baross Honored in NASA Calendar<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/01\/14\/prof-robert-winglee-1958-2020\/\" target=\"_blank\">In Memoriam: Prof. Robert Winglee (1958-2020)<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color\">Science Updates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#6a8035;color:#6a8035\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/16\/to-find-an-extraterrestrial-civilization-pollution-could-be-the-solution\/\" target=\"_blank\">To Find an Extraterrestrial Civilization, Pollution Could Be the Solution<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/03\/01\/is-potassium-a-key-to-understanding-the-oceans-past\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Is Potassium a Key to Understanding the Ocean&#8217;s Past?<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/01\/19\/astronomers-document-the-rise-and-fall-of-a-rarely-observed-stellar-dance\/\" target=\"_blank\">Astronomers Document the Rise and Fall of a Rarely Observed Stellar Dance<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2020\/12\/28\/if-a-planet-has-a-lot-of-methane-in-its-atmosphere-life-is-the-most-likely-cause\/\" target=\"_blank\">If a Rocky Planet Has a Lot of Methane in its Atmosphere, Life is the Most Likely Cause<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2020\/12\/22\/how-the-first-life-on-earth-survived-its-biggest-threat-water\/\" target=\"_blank\">How the First Life on Earth Survived its Biggest Threat \u2014 Water<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color\">Alumni Updates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background is-style-wide\" style=\"background-color:#6a8035;color:#6a8035\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/03\/09\/public-presentation-at-lpsc-by-ken-williford-on-mars-2020-mission\/\" target=\"_blank\">Ken Williford Gives Public Presentation on Mars 2020 at LPSC<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/11\/uwab-alumni-tyler-robinson-receives-2021-cottrell-scholar-award\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/2021\/02\/11\/uwab-alumni-tyler-robinson-receives-2021-cottrell-scholar-award\/\">Tyler Robinson Receives 2021 Cottrell Scholar Award<\/a><\/li><li>Steven Sholes Started Postdoc Position at JPL working on Perseverance Rover<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color\">Support our Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>We would like to send a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported our program over this past giving season! Did you know that even a small donation can have a big impact? One of UWAB\u2019s goals, and biggest successes, has been in building a close-knit, collaborative, community of interdisciplinary scientists, while providing unique, horizon-expanding education and scientific activities for our students.&nbsp; Donor funding helps us accomplish this goal by expanding student access to workshops, field work, and conferences, and also by providing refreshments for social and networking events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Use the secure, online portal to support UWAB today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons aligncenter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-outline\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washington.edu\/giving\/make-a-gift\/?source_typ=2&amp;source=EKT&amp;TB_iframe=true\" style=\"background-color:#6a8035\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Give a Gift Today!<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to our Winter 2021 Newsletter, the first in a new series of quarterly updates focused on highlighting our program&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1,13,39],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5111"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5443,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111\/revisions\/5443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/astrobio\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}