How Pluto Got Kicked out of the Planet Club - Livestream

In this nontechnical talk (illustrated with color images), you will hear the behind-the-scenes story of how Pluto got “demoted,” and why its story nevertheless turned out OK.  We’ll discuss other demotions in astronomy history, and show the latest results from the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew by the “double planet” Pluto-Charon, and gave us a new understanding of both worlds. We’ll also hear a bit about Pluto’s “cousins” - the other intriguing dwarf planets at the edge of the solar system.

Register at: https://www.campusce.net/sfsu/course/course.aspx?C=851&pc=120&mc=0&sc=0

Andrew Fraknoi retired in 2017 as the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, and now teaches non-credit astronomy courses for older adults at The Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco and the OLLI program at SF State.