Why comets and asteroids are so important to understand our solar system
Why comets and asteroids are so important to understand our solar system
It is believed that comets and asteroids are the relics of the material that formed the solar system. They would not have evolved and could…
Continue ReadingWhy is Pluto not a planet anymore?
Pluto has long been considered the 9th planet and the farthest away from the sun. But since the discovery of another body with a comparable…
Continue ReadingWhat is the definition of a planet?
The word “planet” originally discribed “wanderers” that moved over the sky in contrast to the “fixed stars”. Only since 2006 there has been an official…
Continue ReadingHow many dwarf planets do we know in our solar system?
At the moment, only five celestial bodies were defined as dwarf planets by the International Astronomical Union (IAU): Pluto, Makemake, Haumea and Eris in the…
Continue ReadingHow are planets formed?
At the beginning there is a cloud of dusk and gas, as theory goes. The cloud collapses to form a star in the centre surrounded…
Continue ReadingHow are planets and moons named?
Who is Miranda? She is the heroine in Shakespeare’s last play “The Tempest”, but Miranda is also the name of a moon of planet Uranus…
Continue ReadingHow are asteroids and comets named?
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is the formal authority for naming celestial bodies. Newly detected minor planets or asteroids get a provisional designation: For example…
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