Posts by 

Paul Scott Anderson

Mystery in the Orion Nebula: Pairs of rogue planets?

The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered something unexpected in the Orion Nebula: pairs of unusual planet-like 'binary objects' drifting freely in space.

How many recipes for life in the universe?

Researchers in Wisconsin are searching for and testing new chemical recipes for the origin of life. Such recipes for life may be common in the universe.

Perseverance rover reveals history of ancient habitable lake

NASA's Perseverance rover has collected 23 samples of rock so far in Jezero Crater on Mars. Analysis shows the ancient lake in the crater was quite habitable.

The day the solar wind disappeared at Mars

In December 2023, at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, scientists discussed a rare "disappearance" of the solar wind at the planet Mars.

Tiny brown dwarf is smallest found so far

NASA's Webb space telescope has found a tiny brown dwarf that is the smallest free-floating brown dwarf ever seen. Scientists aren't quite sure how it formed.

The strange case of 2 missing giant exomoons (and maybe others)

Astronomers in Germany say that 2 possible giant exomoons probably don't actually exist. That's disappointing, but there are still some other candidates.

Watery plumes on Enceladus could hold signs of life

Do the plumes on Enceladus contain evidence of life from the moon's ocean? A new study shows that amino acids could survive and be detectable by spacecraft.

Does Chiron have rings? Or ring mimics?

A new study suggests that the possible rings around the centaur Chiron in the outer solar system are instead "evolving material" that mimics rings.

Can haze on water worlds aid in the search for life?

Researchers at Johns Hopkins are simulating haze on water worlds. The haze muddles observations but can also help determine if an exoplanet is habitable.

Rocky exoplanets can form in the most extreme environments

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has found molecular building blocks of rocky exoplanets in a region previously thought to be too extreme and hostile.