And Then There Were Nine

Details And Then There Were Nine And Then There Were Nine

Mar 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005stard..33b..17b&link_type=abstract

StarDate magazine, vol. 33, no. 2, p. 17

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

History And Philosophy Of Astronomy, Planets And Satellites: Pluto

Scientific paper

Most people now take for granted that our solar system is home to nine planets orbiting as far away as 4.6 billion miles from the Sun. But in the late 1920s, the ninth planet, then known only as "Planet X" had yet to be discovered. Percival Lowell, a member of a rich Boston family and founder of Lowell Observatory in Arizona, calculated Planet X's likely position in the solar system by the gravitational effect it was having on the orbit of the eighth planet Neptune. But it was the diligence and hard work of a Kansas farm boy with little formal astronomy training, who was employed by Lowell Observatory, that finally produced the photographic evidence of a ninth planet. Clyde W. Tombaugh, who learned astronomy by building his own telescopes, found definitive evidence of Planet X in February 1930. The mystery planet was later named Pluto for the ancient god of the underworld. But the symbol for Pluto, an interlocking P and L, was made as a tribute to the man who had inspired the search for the ninth planet, Percival Lowell.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

And Then There Were Nine does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with And Then There Were Nine, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and And Then There Were Nine will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1569737