Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Some TRAPPIST-1 exoplanets may be like Venus

How habitable are the 7 Earth-sized exoplanets of the nearby star TRAPPIST-1? Updated climate models suggest some may be similar to Venus, but at least one world may have oceans like Earth.

Paul Scott Anderson

December 3, 2018

ExoMars will land in Oxia Planum in 2021

The European Space Agency has named Oxia Planum on Mars as the landing site for its ExoMars rover, due to set down in 2021.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 30, 2018

How did Phobos get so groovy?

Mars' moon Phobos is an enigmatic little world, with unusual grooves cutting across its surface. Now scientists have new evidence to support the theory that they were created by rolling boulders.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 29, 2018

Have astronomers found another Tabby’s Star?

Remember when astronomers found Tabby's Star and said they'd never seen anything like it? Now there's another one ... maybe.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 29, 2018

A billionaire’s plan to search for life on Enceladus

Russian entrepreneur and physicist Yuri Milner wants to send a probe back to Saturn's ocean moon Enceladus, to search for evidence of life there. NASA wants to help him.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 27, 2018

Lunar Outpost unveils small, exploratory moon rovers

Last week, the space technology startup Lunar Outpost publicly displayed its rover concept - the Lunar Resource Prospector - for the 1st time. The rovers may help pave the way for a human return to the moon.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 18, 2018

At last, a planet for Barnard’s Star

Astronomers are "99 percent confident" that this exoplanet is real and not a false detection. The planet for Barnard's star - 2nd closest star system to our sun - appears to be a cold super-Earth.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 14, 2018

How did Earth get its water?

For decades, scientists have said that at least some of Earth's water came from comets and asteroids. New research suggests an even more primordial source, the vast cloud in space from which our world formed.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 12, 2018

Did natural batteries create Mars’ organic carbon?

Earlier in 2018, the Curiosity rover found evidence for abundant organic compounds - those containing carbon - on Mars. Does this mean Mars once had life? Or can some other process can explain it? Here's one idea.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 9, 2018

Could ‘Oumuamua be an alien lightsail?

The object we call 'Oumuamua entered our solar system a year ago and quickly left again. It's a very puzzling object. Could it be an alien lightsail? A new paper from Harvard discusses that possibility.

Paul Scott Anderson

November 6, 2018

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.