Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Are these 19 eccentric asteroids from other star systems?

In the first discovery of its kind, researchers in France have found 19 asteroids in our solar system - between the planets Jupiter and Neptune - that they say are likely of interstellar origin.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 28, 2020

Are giant magnetic bubbles depleting Uranus’ atmosphere?

Researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, looking at old data from Voyager 2, have found evidence that plasmoids are slowly causing Uranus' atmosphere to leak into space.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 28, 2020

A beloved exoplanet turns to dust

Fomalhaut b was thought to be one of the few exoplanets photographed so far, but new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope show it's really an expanding dust cloud.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 24, 2020

Update on 2I/Borisov, the first known interstellar comet

The first known interstellar comet - 21/Borisov - probably came here from a red dwarf star, according to a new study of data from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 23, 2020

Two (potentially) exciting new exoplanet discoveries

Scientists just announced 2 new exciting updates about exoplanets. One is a potentially habitable world similar in size and temperature to Earth. The other is a possible new planet - possibly with rings - orbiting the closest star to our sun, Proxima Centauri.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 21, 2020

How WFIRST will use warped spacetime to find exoplanets

NASA's WFIRST mission - an infrared space observatory planned for launch around 2025 - will use the fact that the gravity of distant objects warps spacetime, bending and focusing light, thereby revealing new worlds.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 19, 2020

First-ever measure of brown dwarf wind speed

Using data from both Spitzer and ground-based telescopes, scientists have been able to measure the speed of winds on a brown dwarf for the first time ever.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 15, 2020

Will SETI 2.0 lead to a discovery of intelligent aliens?

2020 has been an exciting year so far for SETI - the search for extraterrestrial life - in terms of new technological developments and strategies.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 14, 2020

Ripples on Pluto hint at subsurface ocean

A new study of unusual ripples on Pluto's far side add to the evidence for a subsurface ocean on this distant and cold dwarf planet.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 13, 2020

Was Mercury once habitable?

As unlikely as it may sound, Mercury may have once been able to support subsurface microscopic life, according to a new study from the Planetary Science Institute.

Paul Scott Anderson

April 5, 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.