Killing Pluto, Finding Planet Nine: Mike Brown’s Journey to Redefine the Solar System

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What really happened during the controversy over the discovery of Haumea? Why was Pluto actually demoted? And is there a hidden Planet Nine lurking in the outer solar system?

I’m joined today by none other than the Pluto Killer himself, Mike Brown. Mike is an astronomer and professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). His groundbreaking discoveries of dwarf planets like Eris, Haumea, and Makemake shook up the astronomy world and led to the controversial redefinition of what constitutes a planet.

In this gripping episode of Into the Impossible, Mike opens up about the ethical challenges he faced in his career, including the Haumea data theft that caused a massive controversy, the truth behind the demotion of Pluto, and the ongoing search for Planet Nine.

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Key Takeaways: 

00:00 Intro  01:26 How Mike killed Pluto  03:50 Defining planets 08:48 Being an astronomer  13:31 Controversy over the discovery of Haumea 29:56 The search for Planet Nine  39:14 Balancing high and low-risk research  43:43 Did Neil deGrasse Tyson kill Pluto?  44:34 Planet Nine’s effects on the solar system’s evolution  46:47 The relevance of exoplanets  52:52 Outro

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Additional resources: 

➡️ Learn more about Mike Brown:

💻 Website: https://mikebrown.caltech.edu/ 

📚 How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming: https://a.co/d/9jQp3nt 

➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms:

✖️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating 

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📝 Join my mailing list: https://briankeating.com/list 

✍️ Check out my blog: https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/ 

🎙️ Follow my podcast: https://briankeating.com/podcast 

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Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known.

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