Whats the theory on the newest planet?
Just like Pluto, it’s really a large comet and not a planet at all. There are thousands and maybe millions of such objects in the outer part of the Solar System, and they were formed in a completely different way from the eight inner planets. Who’s your favorite astronomer? Vera Rubin. She discovered dark matter. About a third of the universe is made up of some kind of matter unlike the protons, neutrons, and electrons of which we’re constructed. Nobody knows what this stuff is, and she discovered it and proved that it exists through many years of persistent work. What do you usually do during a day at work in the museum? Do you have to stay up late to watch the skies? Hardly ever. I gather most of my telescope data in a few intensive weeks of observing every year, and then I analyze the data, write up the results for scientific journals, and teach classes and students from nine to five, Monday through Friday, for most of the year. So, perhaps surprisingly, astronomers aren’t night cre
