Word: planet
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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It’s no longer true that “My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Me Nine Pickles,” as the old mnemonic device goes. But even though Pluto has been officially demoted, the skies have just revealed two new planets to Harvard astronomers. The widely-publicized HAT-P-1, identified last week by scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), is the largest planet ever detected. But researchers at the same center have also found another so-called “hot Jupiter”—a significant discovery...
...glad that your astronomy cover story about the first stars [Sept. 4] dealt with what we astronomers really do rather than the mere semantic debate over whether Pluto is a planet or a dwarf planet. Michael Lemonick wonderfully conveyed the feeling of using a big telescope and showed how astronomers work together observing in different parts of the spectrum to gain a complete picture of that early stage of our universe. Jay M. Pasachoff Director, Hopkins Observatory Williams College Williamstown, Massachusetts, U.S. The article on the birth of stars was a breath of fresh air at a time when...
...moon might be made of cheese, but Harvard astronomers have found a planet with the density of a marshmallow. A team from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics confirmed last week the existence of the largest planet detected and the lightest in weight for a planet of its size. Using Hungarian-designed amateur telescopes, Harvard astronomer Gaspar Bakos led his group in the discovery of HAT-P-1, which stands for “the first planet detected by a Hungarian Automated Telescope.” With four-inch apertures, these miniature telescopes, some of the smallest in the world...
...Pluto in Exile Why the sudden controversy over Pluto's planetary status after all these years [Aug. 28]? To call it a planet, a watermelon or a beach ball changes nothing. It remains the same object it always was. John M. Reynolds Augusta, Georgia...
...soglad that yourastronomy coverstory about the first stars [Sept. 4] dealt with what we astronomers really do rather than the mere semantic debate over whether Pluto is a planet or a dwarf planet. Michael Lemonick wonderfully conveyed the feeling of using a big telescope and showed how astronomers work together observing in different parts of the spectrum to gain a picture of that early stage of our universe...