Scientists on Reddit

Mike Brown

Caltech astronomer, found Eris and "killed" Pluto

u/Dr_Mike_Brown ↗AMA only

How we know it's theirs

The 2015 r/science AMA, posted from this account

We retrieved 1 post and 67 comments from u/Dr_Mike_Brown, all from 2015, most often in r/science.

Best moment

A redditor wrote in r/science

On “Science AMA Series: I'm Mike Brown, a planetary astronomer at Caltech and Fellow at the California Academy of Sciences. I explore the outer parts of our solar system trying to understand how planetary systems get put together. Also I killed Pluto. Sorry. AMA!”

Dr. Brown, if you weren't a planetary scientist, what do you imagine you'd be doing? Also, can you give us an example of a theory you tested and how you tested it?

u/Dr_Mike_Brown replied

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When we first discovered the dwarf planet Haumea we knew it was weird. Almost as dense as pure rock, but covered in pure ice, spinning faster than ANY large body in the solar system (~4 hrs!), and shaped like a stepped on American football. Why hypothesized: maybe it used to be bigger, but got smashed by another dwarf planet, knocking most of the ice off, spinning it up, stretching it out.

Crazy idea, we were told by most of our colleagues.

We found a pair of moons around Haumea, which looked like they might have been formed in an impact.

Nuts, they said.

Finally, we found a cloud of icy bodies associated with Haumea that was the ejecta from the giant impact.

Of course, said everyone.

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More moments

A redditor wrote in r/science

So, first off I'd like to say I love all the work scientists do progressing humanity and life in general. You guys are awesome. Questions; in the line of work that you are involved in, how many new things are you discovering? Have you put a name yourself on any, and if so, what…

u/Dr_Mike_Brown replied

I have had the privilege of naming Eris, Dysnomia, Haumea, Namaka, Hi'iaka, Makemake, Orcus, Vanth, Quaoar, Weywoot, Sedna.... I think that's it. There's also an asteroid named for me: Mikebrown. As I like to say, it's oddly inclined, and not very bright.

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