The Discovery of Pluto

About this episode

This episode discusses Percival Lowell's belief in the existence of a planet beyond Neptune, known as Planet X, and the subsequent discovery of Pluto.

Percival Lowell was a prominent astronomer of the late 19thand early 20th centuries who believed in the existence of a planet beyond Neptune, which he called “Planet X.” Written by Kevin Schindler. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B.Breyfogle. Video production by Hannah Keller, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. A transcript is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/discovering-pluto . This is a production of Origins: Current Events inHistorical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective , please visit origins.osu.edu . Learn More: Pluto and Lowell Observatory: A History of Discovery atFlagstaff . Kevin Schindler & Will Grundy. 2018. The History Press. Discovering Pluto: Exploration at the Edge of the SolarSystem. Dale Cruikshank & William Sheehan. 2018. University of Arizona Press. The Pluto System After New Horizons . Alan Stern, Jeffrey Moore, William Grundy, Leslie Young, Richard Binzel (editors). 2021…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle

Topics covered

• astronomy
• Pluto
• Percival Lowell
• planetary discovery
• history of science

Keywords

• Pluto
• Percival Lowell
• astronomy
• planet X
• Clyde Tombaugh
• history of astronomy
• solar system

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, Goldberg Center, Department of History at The Ohio State University, Department of History at Miami University

Books & works: Pluto and Lowell Observatory: A History of Discovery, Discovering Pluto: Exploration at the Edge of the Solar System, The Pluto System After New Horizons, Planets X and Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh: Discoverer of Planet Pluto

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