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Posts by
Paul Scott Anderson
New Milky Way family tree reveals a chaotic history
Scientists in Germany have created a new family tree of our Milky Way galaxy, showing how it has grown over billions of years from chaotic mergers with smaller galaxies.
December 12, 2020
Gaia’s 3rd data release: Gazing toward the galactic anticenter
The 3rd data release from the Gaia mission will provide astronomers with a "treasure trove" of information they didn't have before. As they analyze Gaia's data in the years ahead, we're sure to learn new and surprising things about our home galaxy, the Milky Way.
December 9, 2020
2019 LD2: A very interesting orbit-hopping comet
Prior to Comet 2019 LD2, discovered last year, astronomers had never witnessed a comet in the process of orbiting from being between Jupiter and Neptune to orbiting inside Jupiter's orbit. Now ... witness the power of gravity!
December 6, 2020
Earth faster, closer to Milky Way black hole, than previously thought
A new survey of our galaxy by astronomers with VERA in Japan has shown that Earth is both moving faster and is closer to the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy than previously thought. But don't worry, our planet is safe!
December 5, 2020
Did the Wow! signal come from this star?
Where did the famous mystery Wow! signal, detected in 1977, come from? Astronomer Alberto Caballero might have pinpointed the host star. It's a sunlike star 1,800 light-years away, in the direction of the center of our Milky Way.
December 2, 2020
Curiosity rover spots signs of ancient megafloods on Mars
We already know that Gale Crater on Mars used to hold a lake or series of lakes a few billion years ago. Now, NASA's Curiosity rover has found evidence for ancient giant floods that washed through the region as well.
November 25, 2020
Active volcanoes on Mars today? If so, they may point to Mars habitability
A new study of geologically young lava flows in Elysium Planitia suggests that Mars might still have residual volcanic activity below its surface. The finding may have implications for possible martian life.
November 23, 2020
Does Jupiter’s moon Europa have geysers? If so, what’s their source?
If watery plumes do burst from Europa's surface, they might originate not in the moon's underground ocean, but instead in pockets of brine trapped in the moon's crust. If that's so, it could be a source of frustration for those who want to probe Europa's ocean for possible life.
November 19, 2020
Clues to Mars life in Earth’s Atacama Desert
Researchers in the U.S. and Spain have discovered a plethora of previously unknown microbes living in wet clay layers below Chile's arid Atacama Desert. The finding will help future rovers search for life on Mars.
November 17, 2020
Meet the hell planet with a magma ocean and rocky rain
Exoplanet K2-141b is fiery hot world that circles so close to its star that 1 side of the planet features a deep ocean of molten lava. Meanwhile, the other side is freezing cold.
November 11, 2020
