1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Today is the birthday of Giuseppe Piazzi, who 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:11,560 Speaker 1: was born on July sixty six. So Today's Saturday Classic 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: is our episode on his discovery of series and the 4 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 1: ensuing debate about exactly what that was. This episode originally 5 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: came out on June. We hope you enjoy Welcome to 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production of I 7 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:38,920 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello, and Welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: Fry and I'm Tracvie Wilson, and I have to confess 9 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: up front that um and I might offend people by 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: saying this a little bit. The impetus for this episode 11 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: is because I can get a little cranky and fussy 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: about people who are still campaigning to get Pluto back 13 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 1: as a planet. Yeah, doesn't have feelings. I don't think 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: what people do personally hurt by having been no longer well, 15 00:01:10,240 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: and some of it for me, it's just that like 16 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: there are there are rules and reasons. There's still a 17 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,160 Speaker 1: debate that can certainly happen, but there are rules and reasons, 18 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: and it it's explained why it was made a dwarf planet, 19 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: and people will come back and say it shouldn't matter 20 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: that it's small, it's still a planet, and it's like, hey, 21 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: that doesn't have anything to do with it. So but 22 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:33,679 Speaker 1: we're not talking about Pluto. We've done that before. But 23 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: instead we're going to talk about some other heavenly bodies 24 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: that had a similar kind of uh discovery misclassification shift. 25 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: It's kind of you know, I wanted to talk about 26 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: how like our our knowledge and our what we believe 27 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 1: to be true, and how we lay out our knowledge 28 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: of the universe, and the Solar System specifically changes all 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: the time based on new information. So there were only 30 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: seven known planets in the Solar System, and at that 31 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: point it was Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. 32 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: Wondering if there might be a planet in between Mars 33 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: and Jupiter had really taken up headspace for a lot 34 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: of astronomers up to that point. Once Uranus was discovered 35 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: in one by Sir William Herschel, it validated a theory 36 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: that indicated that there should be sort of regular spacing 37 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: between the orbital ellipses of planets, and this gave astronomers 38 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: even stronger conviction that there must be a planet there 39 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: in that swath of space between Mars's orbit and Jupiter's orbit, 40 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: but no one had identified a planet there. Uh. Johannes 41 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: Kepler even theorized about a planet in that gap between 42 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: those two planets in fiftet six in his work Mysterium Cosmographicum, 43 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: and he actually hinted that there would be more than 44 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,959 Speaker 1: one they're writing quote. Yet the interposition of a single 45 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: planet was not sufficient for the huge gap between Jupiter 46 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: and Mars. Plenty of astronomers dedicated huge chunks of their 47 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: careers to try to find this elusive planet that they 48 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: felt absolutely must be lurking in that empty swath of space, 49 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: but to no avail. But eventually an Italian astronomer who 50 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:18,360 Speaker 1: was really a mathematician found something. And today we're going 51 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,519 Speaker 1: to talk about the celestial object Series, the man who 52 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: spotted in, what it is, what it's been in terms 53 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: of nomenclature, and how science shifts, it shifts it's thinking 54 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: as new information is uncovered. To talk about series, we're 55 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: going to talk a little bit about Giuseppe Piazzi. He 56 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: was born on July sixteenth, seventeen forty six, so we 57 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: are coming up on his birthday. He was one of 58 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: ten sons and His parents, who lived in Ponty in 59 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:49,119 Speaker 1: Baltalina in the north of Italy, were really well off financially. 60 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: Because many of his siblings had died when they were 61 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: still very young. Giuseppe was baptized in a very quick 62 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: home ceremony, with the official record quote because of impending 63 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: danger of death and though his parents had been fearful 64 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: of his health. Jesseppe grew to adulthood and at the 65 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: age of nineteen, as was often customary for wealthy sons, 66 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: he took holy orders to become a priest, and he 67 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 1: pursued a number of academic studies and eventually, starting in 68 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:21,799 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy, at the request of the church, he began 69 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: teaching philosophy and mathematics as a touring lecturer throughout Italy. 70 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: In seventeen eighty one, he became the chair of mathematics 71 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:33,479 Speaker 1: at a new educational institution that would eventually become the 72 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,000 Speaker 1: University of Palermo. Six years later, he was named chair 73 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: of astronomy at the school. This is an interesting move 74 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: because he hadn't really been a studying astronomy for that 75 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: all that long, but he was a really devoted scholar 76 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: and astronomy would eventually become the thing that he was 77 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: known for. In early seventeen eighty seven, the same year 78 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: that he was named chair of Astronomy, Piazza began an 79 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: intensive three year study trip so that he could really 80 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,280 Speaker 1: become as familiar with astronomy as he could. And during 81 00:05:06,279 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: that time he spent time in Paris and London, and 82 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,440 Speaker 1: he became the colleague and friend of astronomers in both 83 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: of those cities. It was because of these connections and 84 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:17,200 Speaker 1: the study that he was able to secure a five 85 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: foot circular scale altessimus telescope that would become a crucial 86 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: component of the observatory that he had been tasked with 87 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: building at the university. That telescope was made in London 88 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: by mathematician and astronomical instrument specialist Jesse Ramsden. When Piazzi 89 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,719 Speaker 1: returned to Palermo at the end of seventeen eighty nine, 90 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: he focused entirely on the construction of the observatory, and 91 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: it was only a matter of months before it was completed. 92 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: It was built on top of a tower at the 93 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: Royal Palace. With his new observatory completed and this impressive 94 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 1: telescope telescope installed, Gesseppe set to work making observations, focusing 95 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:02,400 Speaker 1: primarily on accurately mapping the positions of stars, and this 96 00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: mapping effort was truly painstaking. Each star had to be 97 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: observed for a minimum of four nights, and this had 98 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: to be done for each observable star. This work would 99 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: eventually culminate in the publication of a star catalog in 100 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: eighteen o three, which one Piazzi an array of accolades. 101 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: But while he was mapping all those stars, he stumbled 102 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:26,720 Speaker 1: across something else entirely. So it's a little early normally 103 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: for a break for a sponsor, but we want to 104 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: keep this next section altogether, so we're gonna pause here 105 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: and have a little sponsor break, and then we will 106 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:37,799 Speaker 1: come back and talk about what it was that Piazzy 107 00:06:37,880 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: stumbled upon. On New Year's Day eighteen o one, Piazzy 108 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,479 Speaker 1: noticed a tiny dot in the heavens, specifically in the 109 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:58,480 Speaker 1: shoulder of the Taurus constellation. As was his method, he 110 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 1: observed it again the file bowing night, and it had 111 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 1: moved after two more nights of observation. He thought he 112 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:09,239 Speaker 1: might have identified something new which might perhaps be a comment, 113 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: so we contacted the press. Yeah, that was customary. It 114 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: wasn't like he was a glory hound. It was just 115 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: something you did. You reported that you had maybe found something. 116 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 1: So I'm imagining that as he was doing this, he 117 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: was he was measuring all the stars at like the 118 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: same time every night, because they moved anyway. Yeah, he 119 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: was mapping them throughout the course of the night. Okay, 120 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: So that's why they would each get four nights observation. 121 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: And as this story hit the papers and the news spread, 122 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: other astronomers, of course started taking notice. But for his part, 123 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: Piazzi was a little reluctant to put a label on 124 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: his observation. He still was not confident about exactly what 125 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: it was. In late January, he wrote a letter to 126 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: his best friend in Milan about the discovery, and he 127 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: voiced his uncertainty and excitement all at once. Just here's 128 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: what he said. I've announced this star as a comet, 129 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: but since it shows no nebulosity, and moreover, since it 130 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 1: had a slow and rather uniform motion, I surmised that 131 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: it could be something better than a comet. However, I 132 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: would not, by any means advance publicly this conjecture. As 133 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: soon as I shall have a larger number of observations, 134 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: I will try to compute its elements. And in fact, 135 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 1: a second letter that he wrote the very same time, 136 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: but to another colleague, also in Milan, is a little different. 137 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,959 Speaker 1: He indicated in that letter, with more certain language, that 138 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: he felt that his observed object was a comet, and 139 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: this inconsistency as to whether it might be a planet 140 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: or whether it certainly was a comet was noted by 141 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: the two recipients, who knew each other well. They basically 142 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:57,160 Speaker 1: gossiped about their comment letter well, and in the writings 143 00:08:57,200 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: about it, the one that he wrote to and said 144 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: it was a it seemed almost peeved that he hadn't 145 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: shared the possibility that it could be a planet like 146 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: he seemed kind of offended at how he had been 147 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,080 Speaker 1: left out of the loop. So, to further complicate matters, 148 00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:15,439 Speaker 1: Piazzi became ill after his first forty one days of observation, 149 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: and his study of this new object had to be halted. 150 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: Then the son's halo made it impossible to see for 151 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: a while. Piast's colleagues had to use the data he 152 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: had collected up to that point to try to calculate 153 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,560 Speaker 1: where the planet would appear again once it would become 154 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: observable again, and eventually it was the young German UH, 155 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: Carl Friedrich Gauss, who was only twenty four at the time, 156 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:43,320 Speaker 1: who devised a calculation method that correctly located piazz has 157 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 1: lost planet or comment. As the public interest group people 158 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:53,000 Speaker 1: started asking astronomers about Piazzi's discovery. This actually led to 159 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: some interesting cattiness regarding what to name it. When Johann 160 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: elert Bode spoke to the Prussian Academy then the press 161 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: at Easter just a few months after Piazza had made 162 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: his first observation, he declared the discovery of a new planet, 163 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: this really being Piazzi's discovery, not his own, which he 164 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: called Juno. Astronomer of Baron Franz Zavit von Zach, who 165 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,559 Speaker 1: will talk about more in just a moment, called it Harra. 166 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: And Piazza had actually named his discovery series Ferdinandea, after 167 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:28,959 Speaker 1: the Roman goddess of agriculture. That's the series portion when 168 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: the patron goddess of Sicily as well series was UH 169 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: and King Ferdinand of Bourbon, and he was not too 170 00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: pleased about the other names being spouted by other astronomers, 171 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:40,960 Speaker 1: and in a letter to a colleague. In August of 172 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: eighteen o one, he said, quote, if the Germans think 173 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: they have the right to name somebody else's discoveries, they 174 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: can call my new star the way they like. As 175 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,559 Speaker 1: for me, I will always keep it the name of Serer, 176 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: and I will be very obliged if you and your 177 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: colleagues will do the same. It was like the Bone Wars. 178 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: We already have that in the archive from past hosts 179 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: if you want to hear about it. Yeah. The name 180 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: Series was eventually acknowledged throughout the astronomical community, although the 181 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: Ferdinandia was dropped largely because it made the name terribly long. 182 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: And as for the nature of Series, by mid eight 183 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: o two, after another astronomer had observed it and its 184 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:25,760 Speaker 1: orbit had been tracked, was fairly settled to most that 185 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 1: it was indeed a planet and not a comet. It 186 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:31,880 Speaker 1: wasn't entirely settled. There were some people who doubted it entirely, 187 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: and when Piazzy rewrote his observations in a new edition 188 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: with different data, it caused quite a stir. Von Zac wrote, quote, 189 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: what is going on with Series Fernandia? Nothing has been 190 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,280 Speaker 1: found as yet, either in France or Germany. People's are 191 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: starting to doubt already, skeptics are making jokes about it. 192 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: What is devil Piazzi doing? I love finding out? How 193 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: caddy this whole, this whole group of scientists was. They're 194 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: so often so catty. Uh. Piazzi's full findings with all 195 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: of the updated data, were published in September of eighteen 196 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: o two, and while Series was obviously much smaller than 197 00:12:14,960 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: any planet identified up to that point, astronomers were still 198 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: categorizing it as a new planet, and finding a new 199 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: planet was a really important event at this juncture in history. Uh. 200 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: And in the wake of the publishing there was this 201 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: flurry of activity as other astronomers analyzed the data and 202 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: calculated the orbit of Series and hashed out any and 203 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,560 Speaker 1: all details, and they were ever debating the merit of 204 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: Piazzi's work, and Piazzi himself was busy working on other 205 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:45,560 Speaker 1: responsible abilities at the university. However, he also maddened the 206 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: astronomical community by continually and casually referring to Series as 207 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: a star or a comet sometimes rather than a planet. 208 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 1: There's actually a funny bit of coincidence around Piazzy discovering Series, because, 209 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: as we mentioned, earlier, there were other astronomers who were 210 00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:05,000 Speaker 1: really focused on looking for this planet they thought must 211 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: be in the region of space him then by the 212 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: orbits of Jupiter and Mars. One of them, a German 213 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: Hungarian astronomer named Baron Franz Zabra von Zach, who we 214 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, had determined what was that what was needed 215 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: was a collective effort, so von Zak invited most of 216 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: the prominent astronomers of the day to be part of 217 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,079 Speaker 1: this project, and this group became known as the Celestial Police. 218 00:13:30,520 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 1: They each patrolled for to keep with the policing metaphor, 219 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: a designated section of the heavens in search of the 220 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: missing planet, and eventually Piazzy was invited to be part 221 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:44,600 Speaker 1: of the team, but it appears that the invitation, which 222 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,080 Speaker 1: was relayed through a letter written to another colleague, was 223 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:53,079 Speaker 1: actually dated after Giuseppe Piazzy had found series already, and moreover, 224 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: Piazzy never received that invitation. So there is some speculation, 225 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: given the evidence of how Caddie all of these dudes 226 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: could be, that they were trying to kind of like 227 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: loop him into their crowd so that they could all 228 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:12,839 Speaker 1: share some of the glory of having found it after 229 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: the fact, No, we totally. We invited him to be 230 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: part of our group. You got, guys, it sounds like 231 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:25,360 Speaker 1: middle school really does. When a new element was found 232 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 1: in three was named sirium and a tribute to Series. 233 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: This was definitely a time of Series fever, and the 234 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,560 Speaker 1: practice of naming elements after recently discovered planets has happened 235 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: several times. Uranium, neptunium, and plutonium are all named for 236 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:46,080 Speaker 1: planets as well. Because Series was so small in comparison 237 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: to any of the other known planets, it eventually was 238 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: sort of classified as a minor planet, and the search 239 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: for another planet between Mars and Jupiter that might perhaps 240 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: have greater mass uh continued. It was spurred on, in fact, 241 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: by zis Fined. So not long after the Series discovery 242 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: and over a period of six years, three other planets 243 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: were discovered in that same band of space. So that's right. 244 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: There's a time that was believed that we had four 245 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 1: entire planets between Mars and Jupiter, and the first of 246 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: these was initially observed on March eighteen o two, so 247 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: that was even before Piazzi had published his final data 248 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: on Series, and that was identified by Wilhelm Olbers, and 249 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: he saw something in the wing of the Virgo constellation 250 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: that he had not observed prior, and after two days 251 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,760 Speaker 1: of observation of this object, he was convinced it was 252 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: a planet, and he named it Palace. Other astronomers were 253 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: also pretty quickly convinced, and it made them even more 254 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: certain that there might be yet other planets in that 255 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: Mars Jupiter gap. On September one, st eight, you know, 256 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: for Carl Ludwick Harding spotted the next planet at the 257 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 1: intersection of the orbits of Series and Palace, and this 258 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: one was called Juno. Bill Holm Ober's once again had 259 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: the honor of discovering the fourth new planet of the 260 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: nineteenth century, Vesta, on March seven. Palace, Juno, Investa were 261 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 1: all smaller than Series, so they too were considered minor planets. 262 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 1: But of course, if you crack open any current textbook 263 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: that features our Solar system, none of these objects are 264 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,120 Speaker 1: listed as planets at all, So you may be wondering 265 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: what happened, And we're going to talk about how Series 266 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 1: and its siblings ceased to be classified as planets, whether 267 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: minor or not. Right after we pause once again for 268 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: a quick word from one of our sponsors to get 269 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: back to what happened the Series. Slowly the realization was 270 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: made the Series and its neighbors where maybe not actually 271 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:58,000 Speaker 1: planets after all. When a fifth body named Austraia was 272 00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: discovered in eighteen forty five by Ale Hanky, it was 273 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 1: classified as an asteroid. The term asteroid had actually been 274 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: used by William Herschel as a proposed classifier when Palace 275 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: was first found. But the discovery of the asteroid Australia 276 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: really started a shift in thinking about the four previous 277 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,920 Speaker 1: discoveries that had happened in that belt. And soon more 278 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:24,160 Speaker 1: and more asteroids were identified in that same area where 279 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:28,560 Speaker 1: all of these objects were existing together. Soon more and 280 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: more asteroids were identified in that same area where all 281 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: of these objects existed, and eventually it dawned on people 282 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: that what was actually there was an asteroid belt. So 283 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:44,480 Speaker 1: to talk about how Series and all these other asteroids 284 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: came from, we have to go way way way back 285 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: four point six billion years. At that point, a disc 286 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:57,400 Speaker 1: shaped dust and gas cloud was around our still forming Sun. 287 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: So that's the solar nebula, slowly leading to the formation 288 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: of planets within that cloud. Yes, so as some particles 289 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: would bump into each other, they would stick to one another, 290 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,640 Speaker 1: and then they would collide with more particles and form 291 00:18:12,680 --> 00:18:17,199 Speaker 1: progressively larger and larger clumps, eventually growing large enough that 292 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:21,120 Speaker 1: these clumps would develop gravitational pull and then attract more 293 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: mass to them. But not all gravity bearing clumps are 294 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:30,000 Speaker 1: created equal, some grow larger than others. Once Jupiter developed, 295 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,439 Speaker 1: it's highly likely that it's gravity was so great that 296 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: it just dominated the material attraction game in that part 297 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: of the Solar nebula. So Jupiter, with its massive size, 298 00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: rob Series and other objects of the chance to grow 299 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 1: into full sized planets. That asteroid belt that Series is 300 00:18:49,119 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: part of is sometimes just sometimes described as that missing 301 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,440 Speaker 1: planet between Mars and Jupiter that just couldn't pull itself 302 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: together into one cohesive body because of Upiter's incredible gravitational pull. 303 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,160 Speaker 1: That's selfish Jupiter. No, I'm don't write me hate mail 304 00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:09,920 Speaker 1: because you love Jupiter. I love it too, But it 305 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: did uh cost the opportunity of Series and other objects 306 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: uh from forming into bigger objects. So the diameter of 307 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,400 Speaker 1: Series and its equator it's about six hundred and five 308 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: miles or nine kilometers, and its surface area is equivalent 309 00:19:27,040 --> 00:19:29,479 Speaker 1: to about thirty eight percent in the United States. So 310 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: if you could unwrap the surface of Series and lay 311 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: it out on a map of the US, that's how 312 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:37,920 Speaker 1: you would get that percentage number. As to why this 313 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: is not a planet, the requirements for a heavenly body 314 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 1: to be classified as a planet, as formally determined by 315 00:19:44,560 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: the International Astronomical Union in two thousand and six, are 316 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:53,000 Speaker 1: as follows. A planet's a celestial body that is in 317 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,879 Speaker 1: orbit around the Sun, has sufficient mass for its self 318 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes 319 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,679 Speaker 1: a hydrostatic equilibrium, which means nearly round shape, and it 320 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:10,040 Speaker 1: has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. And these are 321 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:13,200 Speaker 1: the same requirements you may recall that Pluto was not 322 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: able to meet and so got demoted to dwarf planet. 323 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: Series does not clear the neighborhood around its orbit. So 324 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: while it's particularly unusual in comparison to other asteroids in 325 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: one case because it is so round compared to others, 326 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 1: still no dice on planethood. We should mention, though, that 327 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:34,400 Speaker 1: when the argument about Pluto's stand status as a planet 328 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: or not was still in play, it briefly brought up 329 00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:41,159 Speaker 1: the possibility of reclassifying Series as a planet once again. 330 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 1: But even though it's not a planet but a dwarf planet, 331 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: serious is still the dominant feature of the asteroid belt. 332 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 1: It's a lot larger than anything else in the belt 333 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:56,200 Speaker 1: by a significant margin. Series contains approximately thirty of the 334 00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: total mass found in the asteroid belt. That a lot 335 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: if you think about all of that stuff floating in 336 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: the asteroid belt, of it is all concentrated in Series. 337 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:12,960 Speaker 1: On September two thousand seven, NASA's Dawn mission, which was 338 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,159 Speaker 1: read led by the Jet Propulsion Lab at California, launched 339 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,639 Speaker 1: a spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and 340 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:25,840 Speaker 1: its destinations that's destination's plural VESTA and Series. After spending 341 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: some time with VESTA in terms of a year and 342 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,480 Speaker 1: a few months, Dawn arrived at Series in early March. 343 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:36,040 Speaker 1: That made it the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial 344 00:21:36,160 --> 00:21:40,000 Speaker 1: targets as well as the first to orbit an asteroid. Yeah, 345 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,960 Speaker 1: that's sort of one of the cool things in all 346 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,360 Speaker 1: of this and one of the things that I love 347 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,400 Speaker 1: particularly about spaces that we're watching history be made all 348 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 1: the time, which is really cool. Uh, and you may 349 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,600 Speaker 1: be wondering why it would be so important to study series. 350 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: As we mentioned earlier, it was likely on its way 351 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 1: to becoming a planet before Jupiter mucked that whole thing up, 352 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:03,639 Speaker 1: so it's considered a proto planet, and by studying proto 353 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: planets we have the potential to discover all kinds of 354 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 1: things about planetary development and as a consequence, our own 355 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,440 Speaker 1: planet Earth. It's like traveling back in time and looking 356 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 1: at history sort of in an arrested state. This is 357 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: like the space version of the Island of Curtsey that 358 00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: we talked about in our Hamy episode that like it's 359 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: been protected since it was farmed, so scientists can study 360 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,600 Speaker 1: like how islands get plants and animals living on them, 361 00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:34,040 Speaker 1: like that boot space and without plants and animals living 362 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: on it that we know of. As we mentioned earlier, 363 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: Series is the Roman goddess of harvests, so the naming 364 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: convention for the features of series discovered by the Dawn 365 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:52,199 Speaker 1: Mission follows that theme, with gods and goddesses, vegetation and 366 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:57,280 Speaker 1: festivals related to agriculture serving uh as the well of 367 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 1: the options for naming things on it, and thanks to 368 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,560 Speaker 1: the Dawn Project, we now know a lot more about 369 00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,120 Speaker 1: Series than we did just a few years ago. It's 370 00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: covered with shallow craters, which we didn't know. It appears 371 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: to have water ice on its surface. There are numerous 372 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: bright spots on the dwarf planet surface, likely a substance 373 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: such as ice or salt that's reflecting light. Dawn has 374 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: now photographed of the surface with a resolution of a 375 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,880 Speaker 1: hundred and twenty feet or thirty five ms per pixel. Yeah, 376 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,560 Speaker 1: and I didn't put the exact number. That far exceed 377 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: exceeds the projected goal for Series. I think the goal 378 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: was to photograph approximately eight percent of the planet's surface. 379 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:42,360 Speaker 1: So the Dawn mission has really exceeded all expectations. It's 380 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:45,800 Speaker 1: been quite amazing. Uh. And kind of in line with that. 381 00:23:45,840 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: The Dawn spacecraft was originally intended to remain a satellite 382 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: of Series indefinitely once the mission had ended. In the 383 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 1: time since it arrived at Series, it's performed more than 384 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: one thousand orbits and it is extremely stable there. But 385 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,240 Speaker 1: quite recently in April of this year, so a new 386 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: proposal was submitted to extend Dawn's mission. A team from 387 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,359 Speaker 1: University of California at Los Angeles headed by Chris Russell 388 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,880 Speaker 1: would like for series to visit yet another object rather 389 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: than just be parked in orbit. As of this recording, 390 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: I could not find any news on a decision one 391 00:24:18,359 --> 00:24:20,960 Speaker 1: way or another. But there could be a whole another 392 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: phase of life for this really cool mission, which is 393 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,120 Speaker 1: exploring this really cool dwarf planet that we once thought 394 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: was a planet and now is not. And thankfully enough 395 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: time has passed that the sour grapes that may have 396 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:37,399 Speaker 1: existed over that demotion are completely died down and I 397 00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:39,040 Speaker 1: can't wait for that to be the case with Pluto 398 00:24:39,119 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: as well. Pay so much for joining us on this Saturday. 399 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:53,720 Speaker 1: Since this episode is out of the archive, if you 400 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:55,800 Speaker 1: heard an email address or a Facebook U r L 401 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: or something similar over the course of the show, that 402 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: could be obsolete now. Our current email address is History 403 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: Podcast at I heart radio dot com. Our old how 404 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:09,879 Speaker 1: stuff Works email address no longer works, and you can 405 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: find us all over social media at missed in History 406 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, 407 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the I heart Radio app, and wherever else 408 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. 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