Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Pluto’s snowcapped mountains are unlike any on Earth

A new study shows how methane snow accumulates on Pluto's mountain peaks. These snowcaps - first seen by New Horizons in 2015 - look a lot like ones on Earth, but form in a very alien environment.

Paul Scott Anderson

October 16, 2020

Astronomers identify 24 possible superhabitable worlds

Are there worlds out there - orbiting distant stars - even better suited for life than Earth? Might they be older, larger, warmer, wetter and with longer-living stars? Now astronomers have identified 24 possible superhabitable worlds.

Paul Scott Anderson

October 15, 2020

Radar reveals 3 more subsurface polar lakes on Mars

Scientists with the European Space Agency say that the Mars Express orbiter has found evidence of three more salty lakes below Mars' south pole. The discovery comes two years after the first lake was detected in 2018.

Paul Scott Anderson

October 9, 2020

NASA’s Planet Patrol wants you to join the search for exoplanets

Do you want to be a planet-hunter? NASA has launched a new citizen science website called Planet Patrol where volunteers can help search for exoplanets in data from the TESS space telescope.

Paul Scott Anderson

October 9, 2020

Astronomers capture 1st direct image of young giant exoplanet

For the first time, astronomers have obtained an image of the very young gas giant exoplanet Beta Pictoris c, 63 light-years away. Its sibling, Beta Pictoris b, was discovered and photographed in 2008.

Paul Scott Anderson

October 7, 2020

Meet the Pi planet. It orbits its star every 3.14 days

In a fun cosmic coincidence, researchers used old Kepler spacecraft data to discover an Earth-sized exoplanet with an orbital period of 3.14 days, a number that matches the mathematical constant pi.

Paul Scott Anderson

October 4, 2020

Searching for habitable exoplanets? Look for phosphorus

Scientists develop a new way to search for potentially habitable exoplanets by measuring the amount of phosphorus in their stars. Such planets should also have abundant phosphorus - necessary for life on Earth - increasing the chances for life.

Paul Scott Anderson

October 1, 2020

X-ray data reveal 1st-ever planet orbiting stars in another galaxy

While extragalactic "rogue" planets - not orbiting any star - have been reported before, the new exoplanet is the first to be detected orbiting stars in another galaxy. And not just any galaxy ... but M51, the beautiful Whirlpool, 23 million light-years away.

Paul Scott Anderson

September 29, 2020

Are there active geysers at Enceladus’ north pole?

Water-vapor geysers erupt from cracks at the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Scientists using Cassini data now have evidence for fresh ice at the moon's north pole, too. Could it be more geysers for this fascinating ice moon?

Paul Scott Anderson

September 27, 2020

Giant ‘survivor’ planet found orbiting dead star

For the first time, astronomers have detected a planet orbiting a white dwarf star. If further confirmed, the discovery shows that some planets could survive the destruction of their sun-like stars, and some might even remain potentially habitable.

Paul Scott Anderson

September 18, 2020

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.