Hot Topic!!  Pluto the dwarf planet and the new “Mega Earth”

 

The planet Pluto was discovered by a United States astronomer in 1930.  Pluto was known as the smallest planet in the solar system and the ninth planet from the sun (Dunbar, 2012). Fast forward seventy three years to 2003 an astronomer saw a new object beyond Pluto much larger names Eris (EER-is). Thus, from this discovery Pluto is considered by astronomers as a dwarf planet. A dwarf planet orbits the sun just like other planets, but it is smaller. A dwarf planet is so small it cannot clear other objects out of its path (Dunbar, 2012). Scientists are exploring and learning more about the universe and Earth’s place.  

Based on new data by the Kepler space telescope back in 2011 it was determined that Kepler 10c is actually a new type of plane discovered in the star system.  The planets name “mega- Earth” is huge and rocky.  It has been noted that this planet is actually a rocky world weighing 17 times more than Earth; yet this planet has no life existence (Mack, 2014). The new data indicates that the planet has a dense composition of rocks and other solids. Scientists are still discussing the data about “mega-Earth” and further research is yet to unfold about the star system.

References

Dunbar, B. (2012, August 29). What Is Pluto? . NASA. Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/what-is-pluto-k4.html#.U44Aol3y0dc

Mack, E. (2014, June 2). New 'Mega-Earth' Means Habitable Worlds Could Be Even Closer. Forbes. Retrieved June 3, 2014, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2014/06/02/new-mega-earth-means-habitable-worlds-could-be-even-closer/