Tag Archives: pluto

New Horizons

Posted on April 4, 2015 by emilyksharp

Exploring Pluto Pluto, the small icy body at the edge of our planetary system, has been under scrutiny in scientific …

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Pluto: Why isn’t it a planet?

Posted on April 2, 2015 by ctogrye

Hey Followers! Today, I’m going to be discussing some basic characteristics of the now dwarf planet Pluto. Pluto is the largest object in the Kuiper belt. It is approximately 30-49 AU from the Sun depending on its position in its elliptical orbit (this variance also indicates a high eccentricity in its orbit). An interesting phenomenon […] Continue reading →

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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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Planets bigger than Earth beyond Pluto?

Posted on January 17, 2015 by agiantchicken

Could it be possible that planets larger than the size of Earth lie beyond Pluto? According to researchers, the behavior of far-out celestial bodies far from the sun (such as Sedna and Pluto), seems to suggest so.  Such bodies, called “extreme trans-Neptunian objects” (or ETNO’s), should generally have an orbital distance of roughly 150 AU and […] Continue reading →

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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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Pluto hitting Neptune?

Posted on April 9, 2014 by efb28

Some time between elementary school and high school, you probably heard that Pluto and Neptune’s orbits crossed and that one day “far into the future” (to not scare kids) they would hit each other. Well, in reality, that collision will never take place. The reason Pluto and Neptune will never collide is that their orbits […] 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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The definition of “planet”

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

Ever since the IAU gathered in Prague in 2006 and published a new scientific definition of “planet”, there has been debate on how well they did, and whether they were right to “demote” Pluto from planet to the new “dwarf planet” classification. I aim here to critique the IAU’s definition of a planet. First, here… 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 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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