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Big Picture Science

A Sudden Change in Planets

Big Picture Science

Big Picture Science

Science, Technology

4.51K Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2014

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A planet is a planet is a planet. Unless it’s Pluto – then it’s a dwarf planet. But even then it’s a planet, according to experts. So what was behind the unpopular re-classification of Pluto by astronomers, and were they justified? As the New Horizons spacecraft closes in on this small body, one planetary scientist says that this dwarf planet could be more typical of planets than Mars, Mercury, and Saturn. And that our solar system has not 8 or even 9 planets, but 900. Also, meet a type of planet that’s surprisingly commonplace, although we don’t have one in our solar system: super Earths. Could they harbor life? And the DAWN mission continues its visit to the two most massive residents of the asteroid belt: Vesta and Ceres. Discover what these proto-planets may reveal to us about the early solar system. Guests: Alan Stern – Planetary scientist, Southwest Research Institute, Principal Investigator of the New Horizons mission Marc Rayman – DAWN Mission chief engineer and mission director David Stevenson – Professor of planetary science at CalTech Rebekah Dawson – Astronomer, postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley David Eicher – Editor-in-chief, Astronomy Magazine Descripción en español Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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That's Shopify. co-deekk slash special offer.

0:32.4

The world is constantly changing and transforming.

0:35.0

Cut through some of the noise with What's New With Wired,

0:39.0

a podcast that goes in depth on the latest news and technology and culture.

0:43.7

Their award-winning journalism will help you make sense of what's happening in the world.

0:48.3

Listen to What's New With Wired wherever you get your podcasts.

0:52.1

That's What's New With Wired, wherever you get your podcasts. That's what's new with Wired wherever you get your

0:55.1

podcasts. Few things are certain in life but you can always count on the number of

0:59.7

planets in our solar system. There were precisely nine, but then that number became eight.

1:04.4

And today, there may be hundreds.

1:06.5

The expansion of our solar system, arguments over dwarf planet Pluto, and why you might be living

1:11.6

on dwarf planet Earth,

1:13.0

it's big picture science. In middle school you memorize the planets of the solar system in order of

1:37.2

their distance from the Sun. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

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