Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Astronomers announce 100 new minor planets beyond Neptune

They're called trans-Neptunian objects, or TNOs. Astronomers analyzed data from the Dark Energy Survey - which just completed 6 years of observations - to find over 100 new little worlds in the cold outer reaches of our solar system.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 29, 2020

Will we soon see potentially habitable exoplanets more clearly?

Because stars are so much brighter than their planets, we've barely begun to glimpse distant exoplanets, or planets orbiting distant stars. Now a new technology promises to provide better imaging of these potentially habitable exoworlds.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 27, 2020

See Curiosity’s epic new selfie from Mars

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has taken a beautiful new selfie.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 26, 2020

Meet the giant exoplanet where it rains iron

The temperatures on the day side of giant exoplanet WASP-76b are scorching, high enough for metals to be vaporized. But the night side is cooler, and winds carry an iron "rain" from the day side to the night side.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 21, 2020

What’s cool about Curiosity’s discovery of organic molecules on Mars

The Curiosity rover has found organic molecules called thiophenes, which, on Earth, are associated with biological systems. Are they evidence for once-living microbes on Mars?

Paul Scott Anderson

March 19, 2020

Have the first proteins been found in meteorites?

Researchers say they've discovered the first complete proteins inside 2 meteorites. It's tantalizing, since proteins play a key role in the cells of living creatures. But will the results hold up to scrutiny?

Paul Scott Anderson

March 17, 2020

What if super-puff planets have rings?

All 4 of the gas giant planets in our solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - are known to have rings. Could many of the so-called super-puff or cotton candy exoplanets have rings instead of super low densities?

Paul Scott Anderson

March 16, 2020

Could K2-18b be habitable after all?

A new study by researchers at Cambridge University suggests that the giant exoplanet K2-18b - a mini-Neptune - may be more potentially habitable than previously thought.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 3, 2020

NASA issues a Venus rover design challenge

NASA has issued a public challenge where you can help design a critical sensor that would be needed for a future rover on Venus.

Paul Scott Anderson

March 1, 2020

Cosmic rays and Titan’s organic molecules

A new study from researchers in Tokyo helps explain how cosmic rays affect prebiotic organic chemistry in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.

Paul Scott Anderson

February 25, 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.