Mary Watters

Black Holes Inch Ahead to Violent Cosmic Union

Bagli, Charles V., and Vivian Yee. "Robert Durst of HBO’s ‘The Jinx’ Says He ‘Killed Them All’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Mar. 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2015

For the past nine years the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey has been analyzing about 247,000 known quasars and recording data on their brightness. Quasars are incredibly massive celestial bodies fueled by black holes that emit an almost unfathomable amount of light and energy. For the brightness of such a massive and powerful body to be impacted even slightly, an incredible force of equal or greater magnitude must be acting on it. When astronomers discovered that the signal from the quasar within PG 1302-102, a remote galaxy, was wavering roughly fourteen percent about every five years, investigation into what could be so greatly impacting the quasar began. Using the light variation evidence from the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey and evidence from spectrographic observations astronomers have theorized that there are in fact a pair of supermassive black holes that are spiraling towards one other at a distance of less than a light year apart in the galaxy of PG 1302-102. Black holes are believed to be at the center of most galaxies and normally they are dormant. However, if they obtain energy from stars or gas they light up in the form of quasars. Dr. Matthew Graham, a computational scientist, analyzed the flicker of light within the quasar and wrote, “The most logical explanation is a pair of black holes circling each other.” Dr. Djorgovski, a fellow astronomer, agreed. “The only thing that could so significantly impact a giant black hole, would be another black hole” (Djorgovski p.3). The eventual merger of these two black holes should be a relatively common event in space, since galaxies are forever merging and colliding with one another. However, the closeness of the two speculated black holes gives scientists reason for concern. There are many instances in cosmic history of galaxies fusing, but in these instances the black holes have remained tens to thousands of light-years away from one another. We have never before detected black holes actually colliding with one another. The result of such a collision is speculated to release an amount of energy equal to 100 million supernova explosions. Supercomputer simulations of the merger are not feasible because of how far along the system is, so in order to study the path of collision (which is estimated to be millions of years away) astronomers must simply analyze gravitational wave detectors and wait for the eventual collision.

The galaxy containing the two black holes, PG 1302-102, appears in the constellation Virgo and is relatively bright. However, it is actually at an incredibly remote distance of 3.5 billion light years away from earth. The collision explosion of the two black holes would destroy the galaxy PG 1302 - 102, but most likely not affect earth or the Milky Way. Theories surrounding the actual result of such a collision infer that most of the energy would go into gravitational waves (“violent ripples of space-time predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity) and that the neighboring stars would be driven away “like shingles in a tornado” (Djorgovski p. 1). These theories and discoveries surrounding the eventual merger of the two black holes could potentially fuel the underdeveloped field of gravitational wave astronomy and provide us with information that would further our knowledge on what will happen when our galaxy eventually collides with it’s neighboring galaxy, Andromeda. Society could benefit immensely by understanding how to protect our Milky Way and other potentially life containing galaxies from dangerous galaxy mergers.

This article, written by the New York Times, was very balanced and provided a relatively clear, concise analysis of some very complex astronomical concepts. After reading the article I did need to do some extra research to augment my understanding of topics like gravitational waves though. Almost every concept or theory was identified and defined in the article, but every one was not explained. Being able to conceptualize the briefly outlined description of quasars, for instance, was very difficult. The article would probably appeal to a greater audience if it was able to portray some of it’s harder astronomical topics in clearer detail. The article was, nonetheless, very effective in  maintaining my level of intrigue. Since it was so interesting to read I chose to do the extra research to understand it instead of picking a less challenging article.  

Off to Space for a Year, an American’s Longest Journey

Robert Schetlick

Earth Science CEven

Current Events Review

3/27/15

The Experimental 1-Year Journey to the ISS

< Chang, Kenneth. "Off to Space for a Year, an American’s Longest Journey."The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 Mar. 2015. Web. 27 Mar. 2015. >

Experienced astronaut Scott J. Kelly, 51, is set to break records all having to do with time in space,  starting from launch at 3:42 pm EST Friday March 27th. He will be in orbit around earth  for about a year and is expected to return around the same time in 2016. Scott will break the record for the longest NASA mission ever, as well as 2 other records for accumulative space time against other americans. Until now, International space station missions have always been no more than 6 months, with the russians usually staying for longer on the mir in the 1980’s and 90’s. However, the purpose of this mission is far from just breaking records. Julie A. Robinson, NASA’s chief scientist for the mission, plans to study the physical and mental effects of space, radiation on bones, weightlessness, and more on the human body after long missions. During a conference in January about the effects on astronauts bodies  she said, “ “They(the astronauts) push them(their bodies) to something not at all unlike aging on Earth, where their balance is disrupted, their hearts are weaker, their immune system isn’t functioning as well, their muscles are weaker and their bones are being lost.” Astronauts have to live in tough conditions while in zero gravity, that humans were never ready to face. All these factors will be collected as data from the space station, and compared back down on earth with the control group being Scott’s twin brother. This physiological and physical data will be used to improve and work on many of NASA’s other huge projects, such as the mission to get humans on mars, which makes this mission a very big deal.

Everyone at one point in their life has either wanted to go to space or be an astronaut, and even in today’s amazingly technologically advanced world people are still just as fascinated by the stars. The discoveries that could be made on this mission will improve our knowledge on the effects of space on humans, which brings us one step close to achieving our childhood dream of visiting the stars ourselves. This data will be used in the mission to mars, then in the next big mission, and so on and so forth until everyone can start going to space, and possibly even live their all because of the data that could be discovered within this one year period of time. Society should definitely be tracking this mission, because it could be the ticket to the stars.

The article written in the New York Times was very well written for the general public, but could used a few slight improvements. The article was clear to any reader, it was a decent length, and it is an interesting topic that directly relates to today’s society, all of which make it a very strong article. However, the article is weak in providing raw evidence to prove some of their points, it could use some more interesting vocabulary, and it gets a little off topic when it includes the section about the Russian records. The article could be improved if it includes more quotes to back up some of its weaker points. It could also advance the reading level a tiny bit, and finally cut out the part about the Russian records, because it is off topic and a bit too lengthy. Overall, this article was a fun read and has set expectations for the mission very high.

What is Cordierite

Liam Bishop

Earth Science

Current Events

2/27/15

    What is Cordierite?

Geology.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2015.

http://geology.com/minerals/cordierite.shtml

Cordierite is a silicate mineral that is found in metamorphic and igneous rocks. It is violet in color and is one of the strongest pleochroic minerals. The chemical formula for cordierite is (Mg,Fe)2Al4Si5O18, and is known for being used in the gem industry. However,when the mineral is in transparent form and used in jewelry, it is known as iolite. Most cordierite forms through the metamorphism of shales and other argillaceous rocks. Through weathering, cordierite eventually turns into mica and chlorite. Cordierite is in the 7-7.5 range on Mohs Hardness Scale, poor cleavage, colorless streak, has an orthorhombic crystal system, and has a transparent and greasy luster. Besides its transparent form being used as a gem, it has very few uses. The only other use is sometimes in ceramics it is used to kiln furniture because it is highly resistant to large temperature changes. When a mineral has Pleochroism, it can be seen as having different colors from different angles, Because cordierite has this attribute, it can be seen as yellow, dark violet, light violet, or even colorless from some angles.

Although there is little to no connection that would affect society from this article, I still found it very interesting because I had no idea that this mineral existed in the first place. However, I say that their is no effect because it is not used anywhere besides making gems. Also, most jewelry stores do not even market it because it is not known. However, scientists believe that this could change as cordierite is a very common mineral which can most likely be found in every continent except for antarctica. If this is true, we may be able to mine more of it, causing more jewelry stores will be able to sell it adding a new gem to the jewelry business.

Because this article was meant to explain to the reader about the mineral of cordierite, there is little to no analysis which I think could change. However, this is a very fact-based article which gives you the information you would need to be educated enough to write a report on cordierite. Also, I thought that the author did a great job of including a table which listed all of cordierite’s properties.

Solar Eclipse

On Friday March 20th, much of Europe went outside in the early morning expecting to see the first total solar eclipse over the continent since 1999. However many onlookers were disappointed as clouds covered the sun and the moon throughout many parts of Europe. People in Berlin, one of the few places where the eclipse was visible, claimed that it was not like the one in 1999, when everything went dark for two minutes. This total solar eclipse, when the moon is directly between the sun and the earth, was part of three special celestial events on Friday, as it was also the first day of spring, and a supermoon, when the moon is closest to the earth and appears bigger. Scientists in Svalbard, remote Norwegian islands where the eclipse was fully visible, hosted a live stream for people to witness the moon fully covering the sun. People will hope that the next total solar eclipse over Europe in the year 2026 will live up to expectations.

As stated previously, a solar eclipse is a rarity that is not often seen. Many times when a solar eclipse does occur, it is only visible from the middle of an ocean or a remote place in the world where few are able to see it. This is why a total solar eclipse passing over most of western Europe was so hyped up. The unpredictable nature of the weather made the eclipse unviewable to some, but it is still significant that it was visible to such a large population of people.

This article does a good job of explaining the situation across Europe on Friday, but I wish they would have gone into more detail in explaining solar eclipses, other than saying what they are. More details about how and when this event happens would have been helpful. It also would have been helpful to know when a total solar eclipse will occur in North America and when was the last one was visible in the US.  

Bilefsky, Dan, and Melissa Eddy. "Europeans (Carefully) Gaze Upward for Glimpse of the Solar Eclipse." The New York Times. The New York Times, 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/21/science/space/solar-eclipse-europe.html?ref=science>.

How Rivers Creep, Flow to Shape Landscapes Over Time

Caroline Paulson

Earth Science

Current Events

3/21/15

University of Pennsylvania. "How rivers creep, flow to shape landscapes over time." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 March 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/03/150309174829.htm>.

How Rivers Creep, Flow to Shape Landscapes Over Time

Rivers exist all over Earth’s surface and have existed for a very long time. Rivers were present ever since the appearance of large bodies of water, such as the seven oceans that are on Earth today. Without the presence of water, life on earth would not exist, it would be a barren planet. While serving as a backbone of life, rivers also had a role in shaping Earth in its modern form.

The currents of rivers tend to erode landscapes, while in turn depositing whatever sediment they collected elsewhere. This movement over vast amounts of time can make a plain become a canyon. It is believed this can only occur, when there is high tide and the resulting force of the water only moves the particles found on the surface of the river bed. However a recent study gives another method of sediment transport, which includes, the force of the current and creeping-esque movements from beneath the surface due to particle interactions. This study was conducted by an associate professor at Pennsylvania's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Douglas Jerolmack. Jerolmack, like other geologists, could not figure out why theoretical models depicting patterns of sediment transport in rivers, would never match up with actual observations. Those models utilized principles relating to physics, so it was hard to imagine what the issue was. Jerolmack stated, “Many people for a long time have assumed that the reason predicting particle erosion is hard is because there's turbulence and the flow force is fluctuating wildly.” Together with a physician, Durian, they started to speculate about what  the issue could be, so they turned to the structure of the granular river bed.

To face the issue at hand, specialized experiments had to be conducted. Jerolmack hired Houssais and Ortiz who had a lot of knowledge about river transport and small-particle dynamics which relates to physics. The experiment consisted of an idealized depiction of a river, which was a doughnut shaped apparatus that was as big as a fish tank. The apparatus would  rotate creating a false current, and dye would help track any particle movement. This does not sound all that different compared to most experiments conducted in classrooms, but in reality it’s probably a lot more complex than this. They tested multiple different flow rates and were able to conclude that there was another factor other than fluid dynamics that was involved. Jeromack and his companions were able to confirm that their suspicions that granular flow (the movement from particle interactions) did contribute to erosion.  The implications of this could possibly foretell that the theory “threshold to motion”, is false. This theory states that as something slows to a stop, particle movement would vanish entirely - something untrue in terms of this experiment. However this experiment was staged within a lab, so it is hard to say if this is consistent in nature.  Jerolmack states that, “We can't say anything about the level of creep in rivers because no one has ever measured it.” Although this can be taken as a sign of failure with respect to his results, he also states that, “However, the slow creep of soil down a hillside due to gravity is well known, and a next step is to examine whether the underlying physics are the same.”  

While it may be easy to think indifferently towards river erosion, it still remains an important concept in modern times. In terms of social impacts it may have not left much of anything on society, but without any understanding of this idea, we would have never known of how the earth became what it is. Without rivers and the erosion that they cause, there would be no landscape for us to stand on, or even much of an Earth to live on. In terms of writing, this article was a little bit hard to follow. There was a lot of background explanations, while they helped, can distracting. The article also seems to be directed at people who already have some sort of knowledge about river erosion, which makes it difficult to understand. It also dwells partially off topic about the researchers involved as well as their thoughts. Generally this is not a bad thing, but in terms of appearances it looks very wordy. However ultimately, the article does meet the criteria for a piece of scientific writing creating an ambience of scientific expertise.    

Earth Science Grant Hoeffner

Current Event 3/15/15

Kramer, Miriam. "Jupiter's Largest Moon Has an Ocean, Say Scientists."The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0315/Jupiter-s-largest-moon-has-an-ocean-say-scientists

Jupiter's largest moon has an ocean, say scientists

Recently Hubble Space Telescope made a discovery that a salty ocean is underneath Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, surface. The ocean is buried under a thick layer of ice and is predicted to be harboring more water than Earth. This will help scientist discover more planets that contain water in the solar system. Nasa has been keeping an eye out for watery planets because if we have a chance at finding life, it will be on a planet that contains water.

We discovered water on Ganymede when we noticed that the moon floods, Water bubbles up from cryo-volcanos in the planet flooding the surface layer.  Galileo, the space probe, measured Ganymede's magnetic field in 2002. The information collected supported the theory that under Ganymede's surface there is a ocean. Hubbles evidence is what really proved this theory. Hubble measured Ganymedes auroras , ribbons of lights, and poles. Nasa watched Ganymede as its magnetic fields changed, they observed the auroras move back and forth. Monitoring the motion Nasa could conclude that there is a subsurface ocean. This ocean is responsible for changing Ganymedes aurora created by Jupiter.

This expedition was lead by Joachim Saur, his new strategy of watching auroras change could help us discovery what is inside other planets. While interviewed Saur said,  "Because aurorae are controlled by the magnetic field, if you observe the aurorae in an appropriate way, you learn something about the magnetic field. If you know the magnetic field, then you know something about the moon's interior”. I found this interesting because this is a breaking discovery and the strategy he used is very creative.

I found this article very interesting, not only did it talk about Jupiters moon and how we found water, but further plans on finding life. This article wasn’t very advance but it contained tons of information in each paragraph. It took a couple times to read it to gather all the information and understand the ideas. This article applies to what we have been studying, it shows that there is water in the universe and there might even be life to. I would recommend this article to people who have a specific interest in Jupiter's moons and finding water in space.

Zoe Hutchings - Suddenly, It Seems, Water Is Everywhere in Solar System

Earth Science Zoe Hutchings

Current Event 03/12/15

Chang, Kenneth. "Suddenly, It Seems, Water Is Everywhere in Solar System." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2015.\

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/13/science/space/suddenly-it-seems-water-is-everywhere-in-solar-system.html?ref=science&_r=0

Suddenly, It Seems, Water Is Everywhere in Solar System

A report was made earlier in the week, in the journal Nature, by a group of scientists that came together and reported that there is evidence of hydrothermal vents on one of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus. It is quite common in our solar system that an ocean is trapped under ice on either a planet or a moon, one of these oceans trapped under ice is on Enceladus, and discoveries have shown that it is quite hot. To scientists, the most surprising thing is the heat, because the planet is so small it almost seems impossible to them as to how it can produce so much heat. Enceladus is the only planet, besides Earth, in our solar system where a chemical reaction occurs between rock and heated water. Because of the chemical reaction between the heated water and rock, to many scientists life on Enceladus is promising. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft was on its way to Saturn, and as it approached Saturn, the spacecraft came across dust particles. These dust particles were high in silicon and had been traced back to Saturn’s E ring. The material in Saturn’s E ring originates back to Enceladus. Scientists performed laboratory experiments to see what could be producing the silica particles. The results of the experiment were alkaline water which had to be heated to at least 194 degrees. These results fit in with the findings that suggested there is an ocean on Enceladus. Another group of scientists named Space Physics, published their research in The Journal. They had reported signs of another ocean that is trapped under ice on Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede. The earliest evidence of Ganymede having an ocean came from magnetic measurements during a flyby by the Galileo probe. The flyby gave us information that suggested there was a conductive layer below the surface. The thing is, ice is not a good conductor, but saltwater is. The readings that came back from the flyby could have been created by oddities in Ganymede’s magnetic field. For so many years scientists had focused on Mars which is so dry and very much dead, so they are now happy to have sort of directed themselves away from Mars and onto a new planet/moon in our solar system.

Finding out that there could be oceans on other planets and moons in our solar system is a big deal for us as a society, and in the future could be life changing. It may not affect our generation, but it could greatly impact generations to come. The finding of other possible oceans on other planets/moons in our solar system is a step forward in there being a chance of life on other planets/moons. Making these discoveries also encourages scientists to want to advance the technology we have at this current moment in time, because it will make them want to discover more about these possible oceans on other planets/moons. These discoveries could also lead to other questions about our solar system and what more is out there that we don’t know about. And hopefully in the near future we will know more about this topic and have more findings on other planets/moons.

I thought this article was a good choice for this quarters current event, since we have recently talked in class about our solar system and possibility of life other than our own planet. This article helped to keep me informed on what is happening in our solar system, and without reading this article i would not have know about these recent discoveries and definitely this huge step forward in science. The article was very well written and I liked the use of quotes from scientists because it was interesting to read about what they had to say about the topic of possible oceans on other planets/moons. I would have liked to have been told more about why Enceladus is such a small planet, yet it is so hot. I thought maybe they could have provided a little more information about that, but I am still left with questions about how it gets that hot but it almost seems impossible to scientists because it is such a small planet. Other than that I enjoyed reading this article, and I was interested in what the article was telling me and I was encouraged to finish the article because to me it was very interesting.

Sasha Ircha Earth Science

Current Event         March 6th, 2015

Wall, Mike. "Search for Alien Life Should Consider All Possibilities, Experts Say | Space.com." Space.com. Space.com, 6 Mar. 2015. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

http://www.space.com/28756-alien-life-search-exoplanet-atmospheres.html

Search for Alien Life Should Consider All Possibilities, Experts Say

This article was written by Mike Wall, and is all about the modern study of life beyond our solar system, and what that life  might include. For decades now, science researchers have been in the searching for signs of life on planets well beyond our solar system. Scientists are currently making their search as widespread as possible, to ensure any chance they can get at discovering alien life. Much data has begun to get collected involving the atmospheres of exoplanets, to further the understanding of space life in the world of astronomy and science. Exoplanets are planets outside our solar system, and can be very earth-like when it comes to some content of their atmospheres. To find out much more about these exoplanets, the European Southern Observatory has begun to probe exoplanets. This observatory also contains some of the largest telescopes in the world for star and planet research. With new experiments like this, we can now look for more than “just oxygen, methane, and other familiar biosignatures that swirl about in Earth’s air,” according to Sara Seager and William Bain of MIT. Scientists are aware that there are only a limited number of planets that are accessible to us right now, but it is clear that it is important to think beyond the boundaries. With statements like that, a huge question that has been occurring in the world of science is, “could oxygen be discovered in the atmosphere of an exoplanet since it is like earth?” That could be a factor that could help sustain life in years to come. On the other hand, when it comes to discovering more about exoplanets, many scientists are aiming to find out what could be living in atmospheres of molecular hydrogen, opposed to nitrogen and oxygen, like earth. With that, NASA’s current goals are to obtain a more clear understanding of which molecules could potentially be biosignature  gasses in the atmospheres of exoplanets by using space probes and performing other forms of research. They say it will most likely take at least a decade to start uncovering signs of alien life, but in the meantime, they are amping up the research and technology for that discovery.

Discovering life on another planet would make a huge impact on our society. What if you knew earth would be diminished in a matter of minutes? Wouldn’t you feel better knowing that we had a number of other life sustainable planets to flee to? Obviously, this all lies in the future of NASA’s discoveries, but this is all coming into consideration in  present day space research. Even with the new discovery of exoplanets in space, we are given a huge wakeup call as to what other life forms there could be in our solar system and beyond. Although it would take extremely long to travel light years to actually get to these exoplanets, we are able to further our understanding of other atmospheres besides the ones we have already studied closely like: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. As researchers and scientists, we will be able to make further analysis involving the planets beyond our solar system.

Overall, I found the article to be quite intriguing. Since I have heared about life on other planets, it was awesome to read some valid information about the topic. The article was written in short paragraphs that had precise information to offer, and a great video was included to expand on the facts about exoplanets and space life even further. There were subtopics within the article, so although the topic is advanced, it was not difficult to understand how exoplanets worked. These subtopics included much about the planets beyond our solar system, the potential worlds that could be light years away, and even information on the modern technology that is currently being used in huge space laboratories in the world. The mini quiz that concluded the article also helped to test how well I had just obtained the information about exoplanets and possible forms of life on them. I will definitely be reading more scientific articles involving the planets on that website, especially those that focus on the study of planets and atmospheres that could link to more forms of life, and conceivably  become other “earths” for mankind.

Ancient Mars Had an Ocean, Scientists Say

Morgan Frayne
Mrs. McClellan
Core Earth Science
March 8, 2015
Current Events

Ancient Mars Had an Ocean, Scientists Say

Since 2009, the government-run administration NASA has been observing Mars in effort to prove whether Mars ever had an ocean. Recently, they came across overwhelming evidence that proves this theory highly true. Dr. Mumma and Geronimo Villanueva analyzed a meteorite from the planet and measured two forms of water that are abundant in the Martian atmosphere. One was just plain, old-fashioned H2O, and the other is a marginally denser water. Its called HDO, and it’s almost exactly the same except there is a neutron in the nucleus of one of the Hydrogen atoms. This type of Hydrogen atom is called Deuterium. From the meteorite they also gathered that Mars’s atmosphere contains eight times more Deuterium than Earth - which gives us the information we need to calculate about how much water Mars obtained in its aquatic hayday. According to this data, Mars had about enough water on it to cover the entire planet in 137 meters of water. They claim that the ocean was about the size of the Arctic Ocean, taking up about 19% of the planet’s surface area. From what scientists at NASA already know about Mars, they guessed that this ocean would have been in the northern hemisphere of the planet, being that this area is lower. Up until 2013, scientists had absolutely no visible evidence of water ever having been there; no sea cliffs or shorelines. But, recently Michael Lamb - a postdoctoral student at the California Institute of Technology, observed what he believes to be a channel system that begins in the southern hemisphere of Mars and empties into the north. Although, this has yet to be validated with sufficient evidence to be considered factually legitimate.

This new evidence just makes the possibility of life on Mars more likely. NASA now has enough information about the conditions on Mars to make a hypothesis about the possibility of organisms thriving or having thrived on the planet. If they take it a step further, and possibly search for evidence of organisms and come up with something, this discovery would be earth shattering! Martians would no longer be the stuff of tall tales - and everyone would want to know about it.

This article was an easy read and indisputably sufficient evidence to back up its claims. Not only that but it broke down the science remarkably well; I understood perfectly well what the author was saying and could easily process the information that was being discussed- regardless of how scientist-y the language was. However, I felt that the author jumped around too much. The information went in the wrong order - from specific to broad, as opposed to vice versa which properly introduces the reader to the topic and content. Not only this but the author included a couple points that although were slightly tied to the topic, were not relevant or important to the point that was being proven. All in all, I found this article to be extremely informative and interesting.

Kaufman, Marc. "Ancient Mars Had an Ocean, Scientists Say." The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <www.nytimes.com%2F2015%2F03%2F06%2Fscience%2Fmars-had-an-ocean-scientists-say-pointing-to-new-data.html%3Fref%3Dscience>.

As we learn more; Planets get less

Cluver, Roger B. "Planet-asteroid-dwarf-planet Ceres Subject of Changing Labels." Coloradoan. N.p., 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

Pluto was first discovered 85 years ago. Some people enjoyed the name, the distance, or the size, but it was a favorite among planets in polls and surveys. The IAU (International Astronomical Union), however, was quick to degrade it when more data and photographs came in. Experts found that Pluto was the tenth greatest object orbiting the sun. The only bigger dwarf planet being Eris. 

So, what is lower than a Dwarf Planet? Why did Scientists rush to classify planets without proper evidence? If Ceres, a object in space first discovered in 1801, is too small to be a dwarf planet, why do we recognize it as one? All of these answers* and more are in Roger B. Culver's latest column.

Culver explains that Ceres was once considered to be a part of the "asteroid" family, citing it's size, but those ideas never came to surface. When Pluto was re-classified, researchers theorized that Ceres might once again be "up for demotion", and, around a decade after Pluto was re-classified, it might be the end for Ceres as a dwarf.

Roger tells us that in the beginning that, "Ironically, Pluto’s loss in this matter turned out to be Ceres’ gain, since the latter object also satisfies the defined characteristics of a dwarf planet". I disagree with Culver, as if that was true, than scientists wouldn't have originally considered it's demotion. It also doesn't make sense how Eris and Ceres can be in the same "group" yet have completely different characteristics, Culver doesn't explain this. I would not recommend this article, as it doesn't answer any questions that a common reader would think of while reading. 

*-Only the first question was ever answered (Asteroid). I've emailed Mr.Culver for a response, but I've received nothing yet.