Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Life materials found on asteroid Itokawa

Scientists have confirmed the presence of water and organic materials that are essential for life on the surface of asteroid Itokawa. The samples of rock and dust were returned to Earth by the Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft in 2010.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 16, 2021

A hypergiant star’s mysterious dimming

Remember in late 2019, when the famous red star Betelgeuse suddenly and mysteriously began dimming in brightness? Astronomers studying a similar star - VY Canis Majoris, one of the largest and brightest stars in our galaxy - commented that it's "... behaving a lot like Betelgeuse on steroids."

Paul Scott Anderson

March 8, 2021

Astronomers spy a nearby, blazing hot super-Earth

Most exoplanets orbiting close to their stars don't have atmospheres. But Gliese 486b - orbiting a red dwarf star only 24 light-years away - does. It's close enough to see well. Astronomers will be watching it!

Paul Scott Anderson

March 4, 2021

NASA selects 16 futuristic space technology concepts

NASA has selected 16 cool new futuristic space technology concepts for further study. Four of them are from NASA's own Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), including a railway system on the moon to move cargo.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 2, 2021

Did you find the message hidden in Perseverance’s parachute?

The striped pattern on the parachute used by the Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a hidden message. Internet sleuths were able to figure it out within a few hours.

Paul Scott Anderson

February 27, 2021

Evidence for white dwarfs consuming Earth-like worlds

For the first time, astronomers have detected the vaporized remains of the crusts of long-dead Earth-like and Mars-like planets in the atmospheres of white dwarf stars.

Paul Scott Anderson

February 26, 2021

Can air pollution help us find alien life?

To find alien life in our universe, scientists have considered searches for optical lasers or even giant energy-harvesting structures known as Dyson spheres. Now they're suggesting a more mundane sort of search, a hunt for air pollution in exoplanet atmospheres.

Paul Scott Anderson

February 22, 2021

Dark streaks on Mars may be caused by salts and melting ice

Researchers at the SETI Institute say that mysterious dark streaks on sun-facing slopes on Mars, debated about for years, may be small landslides caused by a combination of salts and melting ice just below the surface.

Paul Scott Anderson

February 18, 2021

Mars atmosphere shedding charged particles onto Phobos?

New research suggests that particles escaping from Mars' atmosphere have been accumulating on the surface of the planet's largest moon Phobos for billions of years. They could provide important new details about the history of both worlds.

Paul Scott Anderson

February 10, 2021

Hey, kids! Meet the new Hot Wheels Mars rover!

Mattel, maker of Hot Wheels, has just released a new Hot Wheels Mars Perseverance Rover to celebrate the landing of the NASA Perseverance rover on Mars on February 18.

Paul Scott Anderson

February 7, 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.