Pluto's Demise

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Solar System, Nature of Science, History of Science, Astronomy, Society

Ed Hessler 

The BBC's Witness History series has a story about Dr. Mike Brown. aka "the man who 'killed' Pluto."

In 2005, Brown and his team found a dwarf planet more distant than Pluto at the edge of our solar system. It was named Eris after the Greek goddess of discord and strife. Because it was larger than Pluto it posed a problem: What exactly is Pluto -- a planet or should it be demoted to a different status?  This link has a lot of information about Eris so take a look.

The story is "told by the people who were there" and may be seen here (4m 10s).