Eris is the moving object near the left-hand side of the image. The discovery of Eris was made by Caltech's Mike Brown and his partners. They first imaged this distant world of the Kuiper Belt using Palomar's 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope. The discovery rocked the astronomical world and helped to bump Pluto out of its planetary status. Both Pluto, Eris and some other worlds discovered by Mike at Palomar share a new category, that of dwarf planet.
The discovery and the turmoil that followed is the subject of a new book by Mike Brown which will be available on Tuesday, December 7 (both Gerard Kuiper’s birthday and Pearl Harbor day).
Of course, Palomar Observatory's gift shop will be stocking the book - which happens to make a great gift.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment