Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

The case for a habitable moon

Not now, but billions of years ago, microbes might have thrived in water pools on the moon until its surface became dead and dry.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 25, 2018

Young star caught eating its planet

It had been theorized that some young stars might devour their planets. Now astronomers have the 1st solid evidence - from the Chandra X-ray Observatory - of just such an event caught in the act.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 24, 2018

Wow! New volcano on Jupiter’s moon Io

Io is small, but it's the most volcanically active world in our solar system. It has hundreds of active volcanoes. Now the Juno spacecraft has found one more.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 23, 2018

Astronomers discover new moons for Jupiter

Most planets have moons, and Jupiter already had the most. Now, with these new ones, Jupiter has a whopping 79 moons altogether ... so far.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 18, 2018

Astronomers find ‘ghost dunes’ on Mars

Robot orbiters circling Mars have acquired images of ghost dunes. They're pits where, scientists believe, tall crescent-shaped sand dunes once existed on this red desert world.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 16, 2018

Innovative new instrument to seek habitable worlds

A new infrared instrument on a telescope in Hawaii will let astronomers find more exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars. The discoveries may include rocky worlds that are potentially habitable.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 15, 2018

These 2 exoplanets might have seasons and stable climates

New findings suggest that some exoplanets will have stable axial tilts and climates, much as Earth does. This knowledge will help astronomers search for worlds similar to ours - the long-sought Earth 2.0.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 9, 2018

Stunning new views of Ceres’ mystery bright spots

Ceres' intriguing bright spots have come into full view in these spectacular new high-resolution images from NASA's Dawn spacecraft, now in its lowest orbit around the dwarf planet.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 5, 2018

Enceladus’ water plumes contain life clues

Does the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus contain any kind of life? Newfound complex organic molecules in its water vapor plumes hint we might not be alone in the solar system.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 2, 2018

Astronomers see mystery explosion 200 million light-years away

Supernovae, or exploding stars, are relatively common. But now astronomers have observed a baffling new type of cosmic explosion, believed to be some 10 to 100 times brighter than an ordinary supernova.

Paul Scott Anderson

July 1, 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.