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Demoting Pluto Presentation WWhhaatt HHaappppeenneedd ttoo PPlluuttoo??!!!! Scale in the Solar System, New Discoveries, and the Nature of Science Mary L. Urquhart, Ph.D. Department of Science/Mathematics Education Marc Hairston, Ph.D. William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences FFrroomm NNiinnee ttoo EEiigghhtt?? On August 24th Pluto was reclassified by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as a “dwarf planet”. So what happens to “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas”? OOffifficciiaall IAIAUU DDeefifinniittiioonn A planet: (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. A dwarf planet must satisfy only the first two criteria. WWhhaatt iiss SScciieennccee?? National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) “…science reflects its history and is an ongoing, changing enterprise.” BBeeyyoonndd MMnneemmoonniiccss Science is “ not a collection of facts but an ongoing process, with continual revisions and refinements of concepts necessary in order to arrive at the best current views of the Universe.” - American Astronomical Society AA BBiitt ooff HHiiststoorryy • How have planets been historically defined? • Has a planet ever been demoted before? Planet (from Greek “planetes” meaning wanderer) This was the first definition of “planet” planet Latin English Spanish Italian French Sun Solis Sunday domingo domenica dimanche Moon Lunae Monday lunes lunedì lundi Mars Martis Tuesday martes martedì marti Mercury Mercurii Wednesday miércoles mercoledì mercredi Jupiter Jovis Thursday jueves giovedì jeudi Venus Veneris Friday viernes venerdì vendredi Saturn Saturni Saturday sábado sabato samedi CCooppeerrnniiccaann RReevvoolluuttiioonn ((1166tthh CCeennttuurryy)) “Planet” now means “any celestial body orbiting the Sun.” The second time we’ve defined the word “planet.” Ptolemy Copernicus Find these images and learn more about the Universe models of Ptolemy and Copernicus at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/universes/html/univ_coper.html In 1801, 20 years after the discovery of Uranus, Ceres was discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi. Cerese was demoted to asteroid after the discovery of many other objects in similar orbits. “Planet” became defined as “any celestial body orbiting the Sun that is ‘big enough,’ in other words Mercury-sized or bigger.” The third time we’ve defined the word “planet.” The hunt for Planet X (1903-1916) Clyde Tombaugh 1904 - 1997 Problems with Pluto’s mass (this is the only scary mathematical plot that we’ll use here, we promise!) from Dessler and Russell (1980) Discovery of Charon in 1978 Images courtesy of the U.S. Navel Observatory and NASA/HST/ESA PPlluuttoo aanndd CChhaarroonn Pluto and Charon as imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1994 Image Credit: Dr. R. Albrecht, ESA/ESO Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility; NASA TThhee KKuuiippeerr BBeelltt Image from http://www.ap.stmarys.ca/~ishort/Images/SolSystem/ 11999922 QQBB11 The first Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) was discovered in 1992 Diameter: 200 km A 1992 discovery image of 1992 QB1 (indicated by the arrow) captured by Jewitt and Luu using the University of Hawaii's 2.2 m telescope on Mauna Kea, from http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast13sep_1.htm MMoorree KKuuiippeerr BBeelltt OObbjjeeccttss ((KKBBOOss)) More than 1000 KBOs have now been found. 100,000 may be detectable from Earth. 1000 km Image Credit: NASA JPL-Calech NNeeppttuunnee’’ss MMoooonn TTrriittoonn:: AA CCaappttuurreedd KKBBOO Image credit: Paul M. Schenk, Lunar and Planetary Institute IsIs PPlluuttoo JuJustst aa KKBBOO?? UUBB331133:: BBiiggggeerr tthhaann PPlluuttoo!! An NASA artist’s conception (left) and an actual Hubble Space Telescope image (right) of a 2400 km diameter Kuiper Belt Object orginally called UB313, discovered by Michael Brown. Credit: NASA, ESA, and M. Brown (California Institute of Technology) SSoo,, WWhhaatt iiss aa PPllaanneett?? Dysnomia Eris Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI) SSccaallee iinn tthhee SSoollaarr SSyyststeemm We’ll use a scale model of the solar system using a 1:10 billion scale factor, and including 8 planets and the first 3 dwarf planets: 1. Ceres 2. Pluto 3. Eris SSiizzee?? “... anything bigger than TEXAS is certainly not minor, not small, and not a dwarf, Therefore, a planet must be any star-orbiting, non- fusing celestial body larger than the smallest sphere containing TEXAS.” -Bob Johnson Graduate Student UT Dallas http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/astro/planettexas.htm SSmmaalllleerr tthhaann MMaannyy MMoooonnss IdIdaa aanndd DDaaccttyyll 10 km RRoouunnddnneessss CCrriitteerriiaa Should everything round be a planet? Saturn’s moon, Mimas Diameter: 394 km DDeemmootteedd CCeerreess iiss RRoouunndd!! Diameter = 930 km 1122 PPllaanneetts?s? Distance Not to Scale! Image Credit: IAU OOnnee ((oorr ttwwoo)) iinn aa ggrroowwiinngg fafammiillyy Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI) LLeeftftoovveerrss ooff PPllaanneettaarryy FFoorrmmaattiioonn Image Credit: Lunar and Planetary Institute NNoott EEvveerryyoonnee iiss HHaappppyy!! Image Credit: Associated Press PPlluuttoo iiss SSttiillll PPlluuttoo!! The solar system hasn’t changed - only our understanding of it (and our nomenclature) has… NNeeww HHoorriizzoonnss -- OOnn IIttss WWaayy!! NASA’s New Horizon’s Spacecraft will reach Pluto in July 2015, and continue on to encounters with other Kuiper Belt Objects. Learn more at: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/ UUBB331133 hhaass iittss ppllaaccee…… Meet Eris: the largest known dwarf planet OOnnllyy EEiigghhtt PPllaanneettss My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos. Instead of: My Very Esteemed Mentor Certainly Just Surprised Us, Now Pondering Curie's X-ray… My very educated mother carefully just showed us nine charred pizza xeroxes… InIn SSuummmmaarryy • The term “planet” has been redefined at least three times. • Pluto is much smaller (and less massive) than originally thought. • Pluto is a large, but not the largest, KBO • Pluto is still important to scientists, and will be visited by New Horizons in July 2015. TThhee NNaattuurree ooff SScciieennccee TThhee NNaattuurree ooff SScciieennccee • Science is dynamic - new data leads to new understanding. • Science is a human endeavor - human beings make - and interpret - discoveries. CCllaassrssroooomm SSttrraatteeggiieess • Discuss the current controversy about Pluto. • Create classifications for solar system objects. • Discuss the history of solar system exploration. • Research unanswered questions..
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