Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Mars ice is dusty and could melt, study says

Researchers at two universities in the U.S. have found that dusty ice on Mars may melt just below the surface. The liquid water produced could potentially support microscopic life.

Paul Scott Anderson

September 2, 2021

Hycean planets might be habitable ocean worlds

Hycean planets are huge, hot worlds covered by oceans, with thick hydrogen atmospheres. They might be key to discovering life beyond Earth.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 29, 2021

Meet the 2 reddest asteroids in the asteroid belt

Astronomers have discovered two asteroids in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that are much redder than the others. The researchers say they likely migrated inward from the outer reaches of the solar system.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 28, 2021

Ceres’ icy crust excavated by impacts

Scientists have found evidence that fragments of Ceres' icy crust are sitting on the surface of the dwarf planet. They were exposed by impacts from asteroids or other rocky debris. For scientists, the finding provides new clues about the interior and evolution of this enigmatic world.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 25, 2021

A black hole with rings: V404 Cygni

Huge rings of dust were discovered by astronomers around the black hole V404 Cygni in 2015. The rings are only visible in X-ray images.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 24, 2021

NASA’s Juno mission celebrates 10 years

NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter is now in its 10th year. To celebrate, the team has released a new infrared image of Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 16, 2021

Red dwarf planets may be safe from superflares

Planets orbiting red dwarf stars could still be habitable despite superflares of intense radiation coming from the stars. It all has to do with the direction the flares are erupting in.

Paul Scott Anderson

August 15, 2021

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

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.