Question: I know that Pluto is no long a planet but have we found another one since then?
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I thought that they have found other dwarf planets in our solar system such as ceres, Eris,Haumea and Makemake
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This is true, there are a number of dwarfplanets in our solar system.
But remember these are just labels that make it easy to group certain objects into categories, humans like to group things and put them into little boxes. It makes it easier to deal with things.
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Solar system classification is a real mess. The definitions of planets, dwarf planets, asteroids and other objects have fairly high degrees of overlap. It would be far better to have quantitative definitions based on the masses and orbits of objects exclusively. These classifications do exist, and there are some very strange classes of orbit, such as the Earth following asteroids (see here for an example: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42475565/ns/technology_and_science-space/t/asteroids-been-following-us-years/#.T7Bxab996wI). There are trans-Neptunian objects and all sorts of other classifications. Classifications do get influenced by history. Your example of Ceres is a good one. It was originally called a planet, but is now best known as the largest asteroid in the solar system (and a dwarf planet). Obviously the reclassification of Pluto is another good example. Really all planetary system objects are just chunks of rock and ice of different sizes, in every conceivable orbit around the Sun.
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What is the Kepler space mission?
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Hi redteach1
The Kepler space mission is the mission to find planets around others stars. Kepler is the name of the telescope that was launched in 2009 by NASA. It was named after a famous astronomer.
It is a very cool and interesting research project.
Here is a link to the NASA site
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html
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Wrong end of the size scale for me but I feel the need to point this out…
[myimage1]-
It seems I cant insert an image, here’s the link anyway. http://digg.com/newsbar/topnews/Start_Calling_Pluto_an_Asteroid_PIC
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I love that picture James, its hillarious.
pnemonoultramicroscopicsillicovolcanoconiosis
redteach1
Not in our solar system, but the Kepler space mission has found thousands in the last couple of years around other stars. It looks like about 5% of stars have Earth-sized planets and about 15 – 20% of stars have multiple planets.
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Steven has got this one
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Steven is all over it.
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Thanks for teaching me something, Steven, Redranga, and Cocacolarulez. 🙂
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