Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

1st complete view of Venus’ orbital dust ring

NASA's Parker Solar Probe, currently studying the sun, has observed the entire dust ring that encircles the sun along Venus' orbit. It is the first complete view of this dust band from any spacecraft.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 24, 2021

Martian hill named to honor Curiosity scientist

NASA has given the name Rafael Navarro Mountain to a hill in Gale Crater on Mars, where the Curiosity rover has been exploring since 2012. Navarro, a mission scientist, died in January 2021 from Covid-19.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 15, 2021

Possible life signs in the clouds of Venus

A new analysis of data from the 1978 Pioneer Venus mission, by researchers at Cal Poly Pomona, finds evidence not only for phosphine, but also possible chemical disequilibrium in Venus' atmosphere, an additional possible sign of biological activity.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 13, 2021

Scientists detect X-rays from Uranus

For the first time, scientists have detected X-rays being emitted by the planet Uranus. The discovery was made by a new analysis of data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 7, 2021

TESS’s exoplanet catalog grows to over 2,200 worlds

When the TESS planet hunter launched nearly 3 years ago, some 4,000 exoplanets were known. NASA confirmed in late March that TESS has discovered over 2,200 additional exoplanet candidates orbiting distant stars.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 1, 2021

Mars’ missing water might still be in its crust

A lot, or even most, of Mars' ancient water remains trapped inside the planet's crust instead of being lost to space, according to a new study from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 29, 2021

Is ‘Oumuamua a frozen piece of an exoPluto?

A new theory about 'Oumuamua suggests the weird object that passed through our solar system in 2017 was a remnant of a Pluto-like world from another solar system. As one scientist said, "‘Oumuamua may be the first piece of an exoplanet brought to us."

Paul Scott Anderson

March 27, 2021

Volcanism created a 2nd atmosphere on this Earth-sized exoplanet

For the first time, scientists have found evidence for a secondary atmosphere on an exoplanet, created by volcanism beneath the surface. The planet, GJ 1132 b, is thought to have once been a sub-Neptune, but now is a rocky world the size of Earth.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 25, 2021

Subsurface oceans on alien worlds better for life than Earth’s oceans?

New research suggests that worlds with subsurface oceans are common in our galaxy, and might be even better environments for life than Earth's oceans.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 23, 2021

Early science results, and more sounds, from Perseverance Mars rover

NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars has just sent back its first initial science results, as well as some new audio recordings of wind and the rover's laser zapping rocks.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 17, 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.