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Haumea Hot Spot
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
09/16/09 |
| Summary: A dark red spot discovered on the dwarf planet Haumea, which orbits beyond Neptune, appears to be rich in minerals and organic compounds. Studying the composition of objects like Haumea can help astrobiologists understand the inventory of compounds in our solar system that may have played a role in life's origins. |
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Catching Pluto's Breath
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
03/04/09 |
| Summary: Scientists have made surprising discoveries about the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto. The atmosphere contains unexpectedly large amounts of methane and is much warmer than the surface of Pluto itself. |
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The Perception of Pluto
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
08/17/08 |
| Summary: Scientists recently gathered to debate the recent IAU decision to demote Pluto from 'planet' status. Pluto may be small, but objects like Pluto still undergo important geophysical processes that can teach us about planetary formation. |
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Renaming Pluto
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
06/15/08 |
| Summary: The International Astronomical Union has defined new rules for naming and categorizing dwarf planets. Those similar to Pluto and with orbits beyond Neptune will now be named 'plutoids'. |
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The Solar System's Ice Machine
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
07/20/07 |
| Summary: Frigid geysers may be spewing material up through cracks in Charon and coating parts of its surface in ice crystals. The new observations suggest that liquid water might actually persist deep below the ultra-cold surface of Charon. |
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Eris Outweighs Pluto
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
06/17/07 |
| Summary: Astronomers have discovered that the dwarf planet Eris is more massive than Pluto, and is likely composed of rock and ice. Objects in this little-known region of space, known as the Kuiper Belt, are important relics of the early Solar System and can teach us about a period of time when the Earth was first forming. |
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Speeding by Jupiter
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
05/05/07 |
| Summary: The New Horizons spacecraft has collected new data on the Jupiter system, providing new views of the giant planet's atmosphere, rings, moons and magnetosphere. |
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Questioning Dwarfs
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
03/08/07 |
| Summary: In the final part of this five-part lecture given at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Michael Brown answers questions from the audience. Questions include “Why did the name of Xena get changed to Eris?” and “Could there be another undiscovered planet in our solar system?” |
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Studying Dwarf Planets
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
03/05/07 |
| Summary: In this lecture, Michael Brown talks about Eris, the dwarf planet he discovered, and discusses other intriguing findings in the farthest reaches of our solar system. |
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The Discovery of Eris
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| Topic: Outer Solar System |
03/01/07 |
| Summary: In this lecture, Michael Brown talks about his discovery of the dwarf planet, Eris. He also explains how scientists take a tiny point of light in the night sky and figure out how big it really is. |
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