Category Archives: Dwarf Planets

includes Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Sedna, etc.

Debating about the Dwarf Planets

Posted on March 14, 2015 by oliviasn

When I received an e-mail from my astronomy professor from last semester, David Weintraub, about an article that he had recently written for The Conversation, I was quite excited to read it. Professor Weintraub is very passionate about Pluto and quite vocal about his disapproval of its demoted status. This article, entitled “NASA missions may […] Continue reading →

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Serious About Ceres

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Marissa LePore

NASA’s Dawn started orbiting the dwarf planet Ceres last Friday, making it the first spacecraft to ever orbit a dwarf planet. After a seven and a half year, 3.1 billion mile journey, Dawn reached the small, icy protoplanet that orbits the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres has been a bit […] Continue reading →

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Dawn’s New Home

Posted on March 10, 2015 by pgolemanska

If we want to understand the universe, we need to understand our Solar System first. And NASA is well underway to exploring every bit of our solar neighborhood. Just a couple of days ago the spacecraft Dawn send a message to NASA that it was “healthy and thrusting with its ion engine” in an orbit […] Continue reading →

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Dragonfly Telescope

Posted on February 14, 2015 by adyacob

Telescopes are instruments used in the observation of distant objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation (Wikipedia). Because of their necessity for …

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Pluto’s moons

Posted on April 9, 2014 by blakestar2k14

There has been much debate on the status of Pluto’s classification. It is now believed to be a “dwarf planet”. One reason that people are challenging this is because of its existence of moons and a moon system. This picture from NASA shows the layout of Pluto and its surrounding bodies .  Source There are […] Continue reading →

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The Biggest Astronomical Question of Our Generation

Posted on April 9, 2014 by kaswat

Why is Pluto not a planet anymore? I mean, seriously? It makes us have to do things like rewrite textbooks and change our mnemonic devices.  What if we never find out the end of “My Very Earthly Mother Just Served Us Nine____”. Nine, what?!  Anyway, the bigger point here is what exactly defines a planet.… Continue reading →

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Is Pluto a planet?

Posted on April 8, 2014 by colepospisil

Recently, Pluto was demoted to being called a “dwarf planet”. This has caused an uproar among many people who suddenly discovered that their favorite planet was Pluto. The idea that we change how we refer to a desolate rock is apparently unbelievable to a large portion of the population. The question of whether Pluto is a […] Continue reading →

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Is Pluto a Planet?

Posted on April 7, 2014 by hindsolar

  I can recall sitting and listening to an astronomy presentation during my eighth grade year. The man who presented told us that Pluto was no longer a planet. For some reason this bothered me because all my life I had been told that Pluto was in fact a planet. I can also recall taking […] Continue reading →

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Is Pluto a planet?

Posted on April 7, 2014 by joshkip

A few weeks ago, I was discussing my astronomy class with a friend, when he interrupted to tell me his summation of the subject: “Spoiler Alert,” he told me. “Pluto isn’t a planet after all.” It wasn’t as thrilling as the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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It’s OK, Pluto, You’re Not Alone!

Posted on April 10, 2013 by zvgio

A lot of Pluto fans were really upset with Pluto’s demotion from planet to “dwarf planet” back in 2006. I mean what’s not to love about a tiny iceball on the edge of the Kuiper Belt? There is good news though. Despite Pluto’s lowly new title, at least it has some company. The IAU recognizes […] Continue reading →

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