One of the interesting aspects (out of many) about my writing and research work on the exhibit project for Griffith Observatory is realizing (again) how quickly things change in astronomy. Just when I think I can say something with great certainty about a celestial object or process, a discovery comes along that shifts the landscape of “what is known.”

Take the announcement I got tonight about the discovery of what is likely the 10th planet in our solar system. Astronomers Mike Brown of California Institute of Technology, Chad Trujillo of Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University in Connecticut used the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory to spot a Kuiper Belt object in the outer realms of the solar system that is definitely larger than Pluto (currently the 9th planet of the solar system). Now, anybody who’s had their ear to the ground lately has heard a number of conjectures about Pluto and the rest of the KBOs (as they’re called). Some folks think that Pluto is merely a planetoid, and doesn’t deserve the name “planet.” Others maintain Pluto’s a planet, and I count myself among them.

There is NO doubt, however, that there are large objects out in the Kuiper Belt, which is a region of space populated by objects like Pluto (some larger, some smaller), most of which date back to the earliest epochs of our solar system’s existence. Astronomers are actively searching out these objects and trying to understand them. By studying them, we may find out more about the composition of the cloud of gas and dust from which all the planets, moons, rings, asteroids, and comets formed more than four billion years ago.

So, does this change what I write for the exhibition about the Kuiper Belt, Pluto, and our solar system? An excellent question. I’m sure our discussions about this information will be interesting, indeed!

While working on this Griffith Observatory project with the exhibit designers in New York city I’ve had a chance to do some walking around at different times of day and night. The other night a group of us were walking home after dinner and we ran across a shoot; my guess it was for a commercial, but no way of knowing. The cameras, sound equipment, and requisite crowd of directors, assistants, lackeys and hangers-on was cluttering up the sidewalk around a lone actor standing in front of a big glass door waiting for his cue. A neat kind of New York moment, although I’ve seen similar scenes in Chicago, Denver, and Boston. There are advertisements scattered here and there about how NYC is one of the world’s best sets. Also cool. There’s just about every kind of scene here imaginable in an urban setting.

I happened to look up that night—I don’t do that too often here, mostly because it’s been so cloudy. It was clear and I did happen to catch sight of the Moon and a handful of stars. Kind of interesting juxtaposition of a light-polluted sky with a few celestial objects and a lighted set with a “star” standing there waiting for his “action!” to begin. And, on top of that, working on a project to explain astronomy to citizens of another light-polluted area in one of the country’s longest-standing planetarium/observatory complexes. The circles life moves in are sometimes surprising.