NATS 1745 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Lowell Observatory, Kuiper Belt, William Henry Pickering

• School: York University
• Department: Natural Science
• Course: NATS 1745
• Professor: Robin Metcalfe

Document Summary

Uranus discovered by herschel ---- sweeping" the sky + noticed it. Neptune discovery based on tracking uranus"s position as predicted by newton"s laws ---- laws failed to accurately predict uranus"s position ---- inferred the presence of a more distant planet. Looking for planet x: percival lowell built private observatory in flagstaff arizona ---- to study mars. Did calculations in 1905 looked at neptune"s positions as predicted by newton"s laws ---- discrepancy. No luck: william henry pickering tried same approach. Mount william observatory in ca no luck: clyde tombaugh. Used blinking" to compare photographs of the same part of the sky. If planet x was there it shall move. Member of kuiper belt and not a true" planet (failed planet/planet fragment) Another kuiper belt object eris" discovered 2005 (by mike brown: similar size to pluto. See pdf for dwarf and normal planet definition.