Paul Scott Anderson

2 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Paul Scott Anderson

Space Uranus is an ice giant planet in the outer solar system, similar to Neptune. It has a deep atmosphere of hydrogen, helium and methane. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed Uranus over 20 years for a detailed study. The observations provided new insights into the mysterious planet’s atmosphere. Hubble studied the distribution of methane and aerosol clouds over time, which varied depending on the seasons and the latitudes of the methane and clouds.

3 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Paul Scott Anderson

Space Protoplanetary disks are huge rotating disks of gas and dust around newborn stars. They are the birthplaces of new planets. Astronomers had thought almost all protoplanetary disks are big, about the size of our solar system or larger. But new observations show they come in a wide range of sizes. About 2/3 of protoplanetary disks are much smaller than first thought. They tend to form around young red dwarf stars and also lack the gaps seen in larger disks, where giant planets form.

3 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Paul Scott Anderson

Space Is there alien life somewhere in our galaxy? The search for possible signs of biological activity on distant exoplanets is difficult and time-consuming. The new Extremely Large Telescope, currently being constructed in Chile, will help expand that search. And it will do it much faster than current searches. The telescope will analyze the atmospheres of some of the closer potentially habitable worlds about the size of Earth-Neptune.

3 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Paul Scott Anderson

Space How did the planet Mercury form? Scientists have been pondering this question for a long time. According to new research, Mercury originated from the massive grazing collision of two similarly-sized bodies. Collisions like this one were common in the early solar system billions of years ago. In fact, they likely accounted for about 1/3 of all impacts. Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in our solar system.

4 weeks ago | earthsky.org | Paul Scott Anderson |Daniel P. Glavin

Space NASA’s Curiosity rover has found the largest organic molecules on Mars we’ve yet seen. They seem to be the remains of fatty acids. Video via NASA Goddard. Did life ever exist on Mars? Rovers have found various types of organic molecules, but whether any of them relate to ancient life remains unknown. NASA’s Curiosity rover has now discovered the largest known organic molecules to date. They are three kinds of long-chained carbon molecules that scientists say are the remains of fatty acids.