Maran was born in Brooklyn, where he experienced astronomy by visiting the Hayden Planetarium[3] and by viewing the sky from a deserted Bronx golf course.
[4] He graduated from New York's Stuyvesant High School in 1955, then received the bachelor's degree in physics from Brooklyn College in 1959.
[6] He is married to journalist Sally Scott Maran, with whom he has three children, Enid, Elissa, and Michael(deceased).
[4] Maran was an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for 35 years, from 1969-2004.
[11] Minor planet 9768 Stephenmaran, discovered in 1992, was named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union