Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Oldest-known black hole is eating its galaxy

Astronomers have discovered the oldest-known black hole. It dates back more than 13 billion years, to when the universe was only 400 million years old.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 28, 2024

Exoplanet with a tail: a hot Jupiter looks like a giant comet

Researchers at UCLA have found an exoplanet with a tail. The hot Jupiter WASP-69b has a huge comet-like tail of gas 350,000 miles (560,000 km) long.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 24, 2024

Shapes of early galaxies: surfboards and pool noodles

NASA's Webb space telescope has revealed that many early galaxies in the universe resembled surfboards and pool noodles in shape.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 23, 2024

Is this nearby exoplanet a water world? Or a mini-Neptune?

A new study says that an exoplanet 50 light-years away is either a water world or a mini-Neptune. NASA's Webb telescope might tell us which it is.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 23, 2024

Amino acids on Venus? New study says it’s possible

A new study shows that amino acids could survive in the sulfuric acid droplets in Venus' clouds. And if there are amino acids on Venus, what about life itself?

Paul Scott Anderson

January 16, 2024

Titan’s magic islands appear and disappear in liquid seas

How do Titan's magic islands form in its hydrocarbon seas? A new study says they are likely porous, similar to a honeycomb, and composed of organic material.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 14, 2024

Habitable exoplanets may have less carbon dioxide

A new study says that rocky habitable exoplanets likely have less carbon dioxide in their atmospheres as compared to similar planets in the same system.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 10, 2024

True colors of Uranus and Neptune in newly processed images

Researchers at the University of Oxford in the UK have determined the true colors of Uranus and Neptune. They are much more similar than previously thought.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 7, 2024

The ESPRESSO planet-hunter looks at Jupiter

For the 1st time, astronomers have used an instrument designed to study exoplanets - ESPRESSO, on the Very Large Telescope - to observe the planet Jupiter.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 5, 2024

Hubble watches spoke season in Saturn’s rings

NASA's Hubble telescope has recently observed spoke season in Saturn's rings. The spokes are ghostly transient features that appear and disappear seasonally.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 3, 2024

Paul Scott Anderson

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 planetary science and SETI. In 2011, he started writing about space on a freelance basis with Universe Today. He has also written for SpaceFlight Insider and AmericaSpace and has also been published in The Mars Quarterly. He also did some supplementary writing for the iOS app Exoplanet. He has been writing for EarthSky since 2018, and also assists with proofing and social media.