View larger. | Artist’s illustration of Pioneer Venus 2 approaching Venus in 1978. The mission consisted of a main spacecraft, 1 large probe and 3 small probes. A new analysis of archived data from the mission shows much more water in Venus’ clouds and less sulfuric acid than scientists previously thought. Image via NASA/ Paul Hudson.| EarthSky
View larger. | Prototype of a Tumbleweed rover nicknamed Pink Lady, in the Negev desert in Israel. Swarms of Tumbleweed rovers could explore large areas of Mars, using only the wind to move around, just like tumbleweeds. Image via OEWF/ AMADEE20/ Kingsnorth et al./ Europlanet (CC BY 4.0).| EarthSky
View larger. | Artist’s concept of a collision between 2 rocky bodies in the early solar system. Scientists previously thought this was how Mercury became the planet we know today. But new evidence suggests the collision that formed Mercury was actually a grazing impact between 2 much more similarly sized bodies. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ Wikimedia Commons.| EarthSky
View larger. | Enhanced color image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showing part of Jezero crater. In the middle of this image is an ancient delta formed by a river billions of years ago. New research shows that Jezero crater, the location of NASA’s Perseverance rover, experienced multiple periods of water and habitability. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS/ JHUAPL.| EarthSky
View larger. | Artist’s concept of the white dwarf star WD 1647+375 surrounded by a disk of rocky and dusty debris. This hungry white dwarf is tearing apart and consuming a Pluto-like object with its immense gravity. Image via NASA/ Tim Pyle (NASA/JPL-Caltech).| EarthSky
Astronomers have made a surprising discovery of phosphine on brown dwarf Wolf 1130C. It had been predicted but not seen in brown dwarf atmospheres until now. The post Phosphine on brown dwarf is 1st found in surprise discovery first appeared on EarthSky.| Space | EarthSky
Researchers have discovered further evidence for an ancient ocean on Mars, in the form of backwater deposits and ridges left by rivers billions of years ago. The post New evidence for ocean on Mars found in ancient rivers first appeared on EarthSky.| Space | EarthSky
A new analysis of data from the Cassini mission has found more complex organics in Enceladus' ocean. They hint at complex chemistry and potential habitability. The post Do the organics in Enceladus’ ocean point to habitability? first appeared on EarthSky.| Space | EarthSky
Paul Scott Anderson has had a passion for space exploration that began when he was a child when he watched Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. He studied English, writing, art and computer/publication design in high school and college. He later started his blog The Meridiani Journal in 2005, which was later renamed Planetaria. He also later started the blog Fermi Paradoxica, about the search for life elsewhere in the universe. While interested in all aspects of space exploration, his primary passion is pl...| earthsky.org
