Observation 1: Astronomy Cast
For this observation, I listened to the astronomy cast episode 194 on Dwarf Planets.
I learned that is has to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning that it has to be round, so this would not include things like the Mars moons which are asteroids. It also has to orbit the sun, so for things orbiting other planets, such as Jupiter, it would not count. It also needs to have cleared out its own orbit... which Earth wouldn't even do if it were in the Kuiper Belt, which makes us rethink the definition. They also discussed various dwarf planets and their names as well as what they are composed of.
I learned that is has to be in hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning that it has to be round, so this would not include things like the Mars moons which are asteroids. It also has to orbit the sun, so for things orbiting other planets, such as Jupiter, it would not count. It also needs to have cleared out its own orbit... which Earth wouldn't even do if it were in the Kuiper Belt, which makes us rethink the definition. They also discussed various dwarf planets and their names as well as what they are composed of.
No comments:
Post a Comment