ADVANCEMENTS ON THE

SOLAR SYSTEM
MYRA S. HASIM, RN,MAN
 PLUTO’S STATUS
 IN 1930, CLYDE TOMBAUGH DISCOVERED PLUTO AS THE NINTH PLANET IN
THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 
  HOWEVER, THE DISCOVERY OF KUIPER BELT (AN AREA AFTER NEPTUNE
THAT CONTAINS ASTEROIDS, COMETS, AND OTHER CELESTIAL BODIES)
QUESTIONED THE STATUS OF PLUTO AS A PLANET. 
 IN 2005, ERIS, A KUIPER BELT OBJECT, WAS DISCOVERED TO BE 10 PERCENT BIGGER
THAN PLUTO.

 AT FIRST, ERIS WAS SUGGESTED AS THE TENTH PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM.
 ITS INCAPABILITY TO CLEAR ITS ORBIT DUE TO LACK OF GRAVITY LED TO CLASSIFY IT AS
A DWARF PLANET TOGETHER WITH PLUTO.
 DWARF PLANETS ARE CELESTIAL BODIES THAT ORBIT THE SUN, HAVE ENOUGH MASS TO
ASSUME A NEARLY ROUND SHAPE, AND HAVE NOT CLEARED ITS ORBIT DUE TO LACK OF
GRAVITY.
 PLANET X
 HOWEVER, RECENT OBSERVATIONS BY TWO ASTRONOMERS, MIKE
BROWN AND KONSTANTIN BATYGIN, LED TO THE SPECULATION THAT A NINTH PLANET
IS PRESENT IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.

 THEY DISCOVERED SIX CLUSTERED OBJECTS IN THE KUIPER BELT AND STATED THAT THIS
CLUSTERING IS DUE TO THE PRESENCE OF A PLANET ENOUGH TO PUT THEM IN PLACE.
 HOWEVER, OTHER ASTRONOMERS STATED THAT UNTIL IT IS SEEN, THE CLAIM FOR THE
NINTH PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM IS STILL IN QUESTION.
 MARS ROVER
 MISSION
SINCE 1970S, NASA HAS BEEN
DEPLOYING MARS EXPLORATION
ROVERS TO EXAMINE THE
NEAREST PLANET TO EARTH,
MARS. 
 THEY EXAMINED MATERIALS OF
MARS’ LITHOSPHERE AND
ASSESSED IF THE WEATHER
CONDITION IS VIABLE FOR THE
 ITS MISSION WAS FOCUSEDSURVIVAL OF LIFE. 
ON THE PHYSICAL
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLANET. 
  IT AIMED TO COLLECT DATA ON HOW THE PLANET
FORMED ITS ROCKS AND SOIL AND WHETHER OR
NOT WATER HAS BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE
WEATHERING AND EROSION OF ROCKS. 
 MARS ONE PROGRAM
 THE MARS ONE PROGRAM
AIMS TO LAND THE FIRST
HUMANS ON MARS AND
ESTABLISH A HUMAN
2014
COLONY ON THAT
PLANET BY 2027.
 THE TARGET IS THAT BY
THE YEAR 2022, THE
FIRST CREW WILL START
ITS TRAVEL TO MARS AND
WILL REACH IT AFTER A
YEAR.
 BY 2035, THE COLONY WILL HAVE TWENTY
CREW AND WILL BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN ITSELF.
 TITAN’S WATER
TITAN IS SATURN’S LARGEST MOON.
ASTRONOMERS STUDYING THE TITAN’S
COMPOSITION LEAD TO THE DISCOVERY THAT
LIQUID SUBSTANCE IS PRESENT ON THE MOON IN
THE FORM OF LIQUID METHANE.
THE DISCOVERY OF TITAN HAS BEEN A
BREAKTHROUGH.
IT WAS ALSO DISCOVERED THAT THE TITAN IS
UNDERGOING CHEMICAL PROCESSES, THE
SAME PROCESSES THAT THE EARLY EARTH HAVE Image taken from Cassini spacecraft
UNDERGONE. IF THE SUN BECAME LARGE
ENOUGH, IT WILL RECEIVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF
SOLAR ENERGY WE ARE RECEIVING, THUS, MAKING
THE POSSIBILITY FOR LIFE’S SURVIVAL POSSIBLE.