Pluto, Eris, & the Dwarf Planets of the Outer Sola

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Join Date: Jan 2015

Location: Rutland MA, US

Posts: 183

We watched a video of a talk by Mike Brown tonight during our weekly Aldrich Astronomical Society meeting. Being new, I found it really interesting that Pluto has been downgraded and learning all about the Kuiper belt.

http://youtu.be/mSWuyB2o_3E

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~ Charlie Stevenson

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http://astro.charleskelleystevenson.com/

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Join Date: Jan 2005

Location: Springwater NY, US

Posts: 365

Yeah - I followed that whole controversy and thought it was much to do about nothing. The professional astronomers were astoundingly at each other’s throats and it took YEARS to come to a formal agreement. The decision makes sense, technically...but it was far more about personalities and naming things than the orbiting bodies themselves. One of my FAVORITE imaging projects years ago was to image the star field (containing Pluto) with my wonderful 12.5-inch Cave Astrola and generate a (slide-show) sequence showing Pluto moving in its orbit. So I can truly say I have seen all 9 planets...or is it 8 + 1?! Anyway, I was able to see EARTH in broad daylight and highly-resolved with no optical aid whatsoever!

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Pluto, Eris, & the Dwarf Planets of the Outer Sola

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