Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Are Mars’ subsurface lakes really lakes?

Researchers suggest that Mars' subsurface lakes beneath the south polar ice cap may not actually be lakes after all. The first presumed lakes were discovered in 2018 and 2020, and now radar images from Mars Express reveal even more. But many of them are in locations too cold for even salty water to stay liquid.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 9, 2021

An inner solar system much like ours, 35 light-years away

Astronomers using the Very Large Telescope have been studying a distant exoplanet with an inner solar system much like ours.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 6, 2021

Neutron-star mountains are tiny (but you can’t climb ’em)

Researchers in the UK have found that neutron-star mountains are less than a millimeter tall. These dense, dead stars are nearly perfectly smooth spheres.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 31, 2021

1st moon-forming disk around an exoplanet

Astronomers have found solid evidence for a moon-forming disk around a distant exoplanet. It provides new clues as to how moons and planets form.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 27, 2021

9 weird transients from 1950 still unexplained

Astronomers in Sweden want to solve the mystery of 9 weird transients, glimpsed in a photographic plate acquired at Palomar Observatory in 1950.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 25, 2021

Cracked surface of Venus behaves like sea ice

Venus' cracked surface suggests a moveable crust for this nearby world, and suggests the planet might still be geologically active today.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 25, 2021

Moons of rogue planets could have water and life

A new study from scientists at LMU in Germany says that there could be enough heat and liquid water on moons of rogue planets - free-floating worlds with no suns - to support life. Cosmic rays could drive processes such as photosynthesis, instead of direct sunlight.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 10, 2021

Are Earth-like biospheres rare?

A new study from researchers at the University of Naples in Italy suggests that highly-evolved, Earth-like biospheres may be rare on exoplanets. Many stars either don't emit enough energy for life to develop past the basic photosynthesis stage or don't live long enough for life to evolve on any planets that may otherwise be suitable.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 8, 2021

Space

Mini-Neptune’s atmosphere ripe for study

A newly-discovered mini-Neptune's atmosphere is ideal for study by space telescopes.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 8, 2021

Mars methane mystery? Depends on the time of day

Scientists think they've solved the mystery of why NASA's Curiosity rover keeps detecting methane on Mars, but ESA's Trace Gas Orbiter doesn't.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 3, 2021

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.