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the facts had been uncovered

6/27/2021

Even before the facts had been uncovered and what was known of Pluto was principally its orbit, it was considered to be somewhat of an outsider among the planets. It goes around the Sun in an orbit that is very eccentric – it passes inside Neptune's orbit for part of the time. Also, the orbit lies at a surprisingly large, skewed angle to the orbital plane of all the other planets.

Excerpt from The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System, Paul Murdin

Closer to the Sun

6/26/2021

Uranus is fourteen times the mass of the Earth, but Neptune is bigger at seventeen times. Neptune should be closer to the Sun than Uranus. On this argument, Uranus should be the frontier to the solar system, not Neptune. In other words, Neptune is in the wrong place.

Excerpt from The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System, Paul Murdin

working with the aid of his sister

6/25/2021

The astronomer who found Uranus was William Herschel, working with the aid of his sister Caroline.

Excerpt from The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System, Paul Murdin

deep within

6/24/2021

The environment in this ocean is similar to some niche environments on Earth: wet, warm, dark caverns, deep within volcanic rocks. The implication is that Enceladus* is a potential habitat for life.

*The name given to one of Saturn's many moons

Excerpt from The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System, Paul Murdin

life starts

6/23/2021

Future spacecraft in the form of drones might explore Titan by flying in its atmosphere to look for life in the methane lakes. Will Titan prove definitely to be pre-biotic or will it show itself to be positioned right at the moment life starts?

Excerpt from The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System, Paul Murdin

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the facts had been uncovered

Closer to the Sun

working with the aid of his sister

deep within

life starts

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