Another distinct feature on Pluto's surface is a large heart-shaped region known unofficially as Tombaugh Regio (after Clyde Tombaugh; regio is Latin for region). The left side of the region (an area that takes on the shape of an ice cream cone) is covered in carbon monoxide ice. Other...
Alternative classification schemes continue to pop up. A 2017 proposal defined a planet as "a round object in space that's smaller than a star." This wouldmake Pluto a planet again, but it would do the same to theEarth's moonas well as many other moons in the solar system, and bring...
The International Astronomical Union (IAU), the body that is responsible for naming and classifying objects in the cosmos, has just announced that Pluto has been reclassified as a major planet. That's right, the little dwarf will be rejoining the ranks of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, ...
(1) A “planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b)has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape,and © has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. The part in b...
They got knocked down again; they stood up again.” In a coincidence, today's close approach falls on the 50th anniversary of the first flyby of Mars, another planet, which was completed by NASA-s Mariner 4 spaceship. There are no longer nine officially recognized planets, of course. The...
Pluto was officially labeled the ninth planet by the International Astronomical Union in 1930 and named for the Roman god of the underworld. It was the first and only planet to be discovered by an American, Clyde W. Tombaugh. It has since been reclassified as a Dwarf Planet along with Eris...
Since the recording of this show, dwarf planet 2003 UB313 has been officially named Eris, and its moon is Dysnomia Transcript Transcript: Pluto’s Planetary Identity Crisis Download the transcript Fraser Cain: If we talked to any astronomer, anyone in the space industry this last couple of mo...
After being officially discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930, Pluto spent close to a century being thought of as the ninth planet of our Solar System. In 2006, it wasreclassified as a "dwarf planet"due to the discovery of other Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) of comparable size. However, th...
Again this illustrates that planetary bodies from a geophysical perspective includes more than just the IAU planets. Comparative planetology will include planets, dwarf planets and spheroidal moons. And the IAU definition will not stop researchers from referring to the planetary nature of these bodies....
first flyby of Mars, another plan-et, which was completed by NASA's Mariner 4 space-ship.There are no longer nine officially recognized planets,of course The International Astronomical Union regardedPluto as “adwarf planet” in 2006 in a decision that re-mains controversial(有争议的)today.1...