StarChild Question of the Month for December 1999 - NASA
Pluto was discovered by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. A 9th planet had been looked for for some time. It was believed that such a planet had to exist in order to explain some odd …
StarChild: The dwarf planet Ceres - NASA
Sir William Herschel labeled these objects as asteroids, so in 1802 Ceres became known as an asteroid, not a planet. Ceres was the largest known asteroid in the asteroid belt until 2006. In …
StarChild: The Dwarf Planet Eris - NASA
At 2400 kilometers in diameter, Eris is slightly larger than Pluto. Its discovery was one of the reasons the International Astronomical Union felt it was necessary to definitely define what …
Clyde Tombaugh - NASA
However, as astronomers learned more about the planets and also about a new group of objects known as the Kuiper Belt Objects, it became clear that Pluto was more like the objects in that …
Galileo Galilei - NASA
Galileo Galilei was an Italian physicist and astronomer.He was born in Pisa on February 15, 1564. Galileo's father, Vincenzo Galilei, was a well-known musician.
StarChild: The Dwarf Planet Makemake - NASA
After Eris and Pluto, Makemake is the third largest known dwarf planet. Along with fellow dwarf planets Pluto and Haumea, Makemake is located in the Kuiper Belt, a region outside the orbit …
Nicolaus Copernicus - NASA
Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Thorn, Poland on February 19, 1473. He was the son of a wealthy merchant. After his father's death, he was raised by his mother's brother, a bishop in …
StarChild: The dwarf planet Haumea - NASA
Its actual discovery is a controversial topic in the world of astronomy. A team of astronomers from Caltech first published the discovery online on July 20, 2005 using data they collected on May …
Who figured out the Earth is round? - NASA
StarChild Question of the Month for February 2003 Question: Who figured out the Earth is round? Answer: It has actually been known that the Earth was round since the time of the ancient …
John Couch Adams - NASA
Galle acted on Le Verrier's work and became the first person to observe Neptune. After the discovery of Neptune, the director of the Cambridge Observatory pointed out that John Couch …