1.
Huntsville, Alabama
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Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County, the city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsvilles population was 180,105 as of the 2010 census, the Huntsville Metropolitan Areas population was 417,593 in 2010 to become the 2nd largest in Alabama. Huntsville metros population reached 441,000 by 2014, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Huntsville to its Americas Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2010 list. The first settlers of the area were Muscogee-speaking people, the Chickasaw traditionally claim to have settled around 1300 after coming east across the Mississippi. The 1805 Treaty with the Chickasaws and the Cherokee Treaty of Washington of 1806 ceded native claims to the United States Government, the area was subsequently purchased by LeRoy Pope, who named the area Twickenham after the home village of his distant kinsman Alexander Pope. Twickenham was carefully planned, with streets laid out on the northeast to southwest direction based on the Big Spring. However, due to anti-British sentiment during this period, the name was changed to Huntsville to honor John Hunt, both John Hunt and LeRoy Pope were Freemasons and charter members of Helion Lodge #1, the oldest Lodge in Alabama. In 1811, Huntsville became the first incorporated town in Alabama, however, the recognized birth year of the city is 1805, the year of John Hunts arrival. The citys sesquicentennial anniversary was held in 1955, and the bicentennial was celebrated in 2005, Huntsvilles quick growth was from wealth generated by the cotton and railroad industries. Many wealthy planters moved into the area from Virginia, Georgia, in 1819, Huntsville hosted a constitutional convention in Walker Allens large cabinetmaking shop. The 44 delegates meeting there wrote a constitution for the new state of Alabama, in accordance with the new state constitution, Huntsville became Alabamas first capital when the state was admitted to the Union. This was a designation for one legislative session only, and the capital was then moved to Cahawba, then to Tuscaloosa. In 1855, the Memphis and Charleston Railroad was constructed through Huntsville, Huntsville initially opposed secession from the Union in 1861, but provided many men for the Confederacys efforts. The 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, led by Col. Egbert J. Jones of Huntsville, distinguished itself at the Battle of Manassas/Bull Run, the first major encounter of the American Civil War. The Fourth Alabama Infantry, which contained two Huntsville companies, were the first Alabama troops to fight in the war and were present when Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox in April 1865. Eight generals of the war were born in or near Huntsville, Huntsville was the control point for the Western Division of the Memphis &Charleston, and by controlling this railroad the Union had a direct connection to Charleston South Carolina. During the first occupation, the Union officers occupied many of the homes in the city while the other men camped on the outskirts
2.
Princeton University
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Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The institution moved to Newark in 1747, then to the current site nine years later, Princeton provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. The university has ties with the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton has the largest endowment per student in the United States. The university has graduated many notable alumni, two U. S. Presidents,12 U. S. Supreme Court Justices, and numerous living billionaires and foreign heads of state are all counted among Princetons alumni body. New Light Presbyterians founded the College of New Jersey in 1746 in order to train ministers, the college was the educational and religious capital of Scots-Irish America. In 1754, trustees of the College of New Jersey suggested that, in recognition of Governors interest, gov. Jonathan Belcher replied, What a name that would be. In 1756, the moved to Princeton, New Jersey. Its home in Princeton was Nassau Hall, named for the royal House of Orange-Nassau of William III of England, following the untimely deaths of Princetons first five presidents, John Witherspoon became president in 1768 and remained in that office until his death in 1794. During his presidency, Witherspoon shifted the focus from training ministers to preparing a new generation for leadership in the new American nation. To this end, he tightened academic standards and solicited investment in the college, in 1812, the eighth president the College of New Jersey, Ashbel Green, helped establish the Princeton Theological Seminary next door. The plan to extend the theological curriculum met with approval on the part of the authorities at the College of New Jersey. Today, Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary maintain separate institutions with ties that include such as cross-registration. Before the construction of Stanhope Hall in 1803, Nassau Hall was the sole building. The cornerstone of the building was laid on September 17,1754, during the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau Hall, making Princeton the countrys capital for four months. The class of 1879 donated twin lion sculptures that flanked the entrance until 1911, Nassau Halls bell rang after the halls construction, however, the fire of 1802 melted it. The bell was then recast and melted again in the fire of 1855, James McCosh took office as the colleges president in 1868 and lifted the institution out of a low period that had been brought about by the American Civil War. McCosh Hall is named in his honor, in 1879, the first thesis for a Doctor of Philosophy Ph. D. was submitted by James F. Williamson, Class of 1877. In 1896, the officially changed its name from the College of New Jersey to Princeton University to honor the town in which it resides
3.
University of California, Berkeley
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The University of California, Berkeley, is a public research university located in Berkeley, California. In 1960s, UC Berkeley was particularly noted for the Free Speech Movement as well as the Anti-Vietnam War Movement led by its students. S, Department of Energy, and is home to many world-renowned research institutes and organizations including Mathematical Sciences Research Institute and Space Sciences Laboratory. Faculty member J. R. Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, Lawrence Livermore Lab also discovered or co-discovered six chemical elements. The Academic Ranking of World Universities also ranks the University of California, Berkeley, third in the world overall, in 1866, the private College of California purchased the land comprising the current Berkeley campus. Ten faculty members and almost 40 students made up the new University of California when it opened in Oakland in 1869, billings was a trustee of the College of California and suggested that the college be named in honor of the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley. In 1870, Henry Durant, the founder of the College of California, with the completion of North and South Halls in 1873, the university relocated to its Berkeley location with 167 male and 22 female students and held its first classes. In 1905, the University Farm was established near Sacramento, ultimately becoming the University of California, by the 1920s, the number of campus buildings had grown substantially, and included twenty structures designed by architect John Galen Howard. Robert Gordon Sproul served as president from 1930 to 1958, by 1942, the American Council on Education ranked UC Berkeley second only to Harvard University in the number of distinguished departments. During World War II, following Glenn Seaborgs then-secret discovery of plutonium, UC Berkeley physics professor J. Robert Oppenheimer was named scientific head of the Manhattan Project in 1942. Along with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley is now a partner in managing two other labs, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, originally, military training was compulsory for male undergraduates, and Berkeley housed an armory for that purpose. In 1917, Berkeleys ROTC program was established, and its School of Military Aeronautics trained future pilots, including Jimmy Doolittle, both Robert McNamara and Frederick C. Weyand graduated from UC Berkeleys ROTC program, earning B. A. degrees in 1937 and 1938, in 1926, future fleet admiral Chester W. Nimitz established the first Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps unit at Berkeley. The Board of Regents ended compulsory military training at Berkeley in 1962, during the McCarthy era in 1949, the Board of Regents adopted an anti-communist loyalty oath. A number of faculty members objected and were dismissed, ten years passed before they were reinstated with back pay, in 1952, the University of California became an entity separate from the Berkeley campus. Each campus was given autonomy and its own Chancellor. Then-president Sproul assumed presidency of the entire University of California system, Berkeley gained a reputation for student activism in the 1960s with the Free Speech Movement of 1964 and opposition to the Vietnam War. In the highly publicized Peoples Park protest in 1969, students and the school conflicted over use of a plot of land, then governor of California Ronald Reagan called the Berkeley campus a haven for communist sympathizers, protesters, and sex deviants. Modern students at Berkeley are less active, with a greater percentage of moderates and conservatives
4.
Astronomer
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An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who concentrates their studies on a specific question or field outside of the scope of Earth. They look at stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies, as well as other celestial objects — either in observational astronomy. Examples of topics or fields astronomers work on include, planetary science, solar astronomy, there are also related but distinct subjects like physical cosmology which studies the Universe as a whole. Astronomers usually fit into two types, Observational astronomers make direct observations of planets, stars and galaxies, and analyze the data, theoretical astronomers create and investigate models of things that cannot be observed. They use this data to create models or simulations to theorize how different celestial bodies work, there are further subcategories inside these two main branches of astronomy such as planetary astronomy, galactic astronomy or physical cosmology. Today, that distinction has disappeared and the terms astronomer. Professional astronomers are highly educated individuals who typically have a Ph. D. in physics or astronomy and are employed by research institutions or universities. They spend the majority of their time working on research, although quite often have other duties such as teaching, building instruments. The number of astronomers in the United States is actually quite small. The American Astronomical Society, which is the organization of professional astronomers in North America, has approximately 7,000 members. This number includes scientists from other such as physics, geology. The International Astronomical Union comprises almost 10,145 members from 70 different countries who are involved in research at the Ph. D. level. Before CCDs, photographic plates were a method of observation. Modern astronomers spend relatively little time at telescopes usually just a few weeks per year, analysis of observed phenomena, along with making predictions as to the causes of what they observe, takes the majority of observational astronomers time. Astronomers who serve as faculty spend much of their time teaching undergraduate and graduate classes, most universities also have outreach programs including public telescope time and sometimes planetariums as a public service to encourage interest in the field. Those who become astronomers usually have a background in maths, sciences. Taking courses that teach how to research, write and present papers are also invaluable, in college/university most astronomers get a Ph. D. in astronomy or physics. Keeping in mind how few there are it is understood that graduate schools in this field are very competitive
5.
California Institute of Technology
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The California Institute of Technology is a private doctorate-granting university located in Pasadena, California, United States. The vocational and preparatory schools were disbanded and spun off in 1910, the university is one among a small group of Institutes of Technology in the United States which is primarily devoted to the instruction of technical arts and applied sciences. Caltech has six divisions with strong emphasis on science and engineering, managing $332 million in 2011 in sponsored research. Its 124-acre primary campus is located approximately 11 mi northeast of downtown Los Angeles, first-year students are required to live on campus, and 95% of undergraduates remain in the on-campus House System at Caltech. Although Caltech has a tradition of practical jokes and pranks. The Caltech Beavers compete in 13 intercollegiate sports in the NCAA Division IIIs Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Caltech is frequently cited as one of the worlds best universities. There are 112 faculty members who have elected to the United States National Academies. In addition, numerous faculty members are associated with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as NASA, according to a 2015 Pomona College study, Caltech ranked number one in the U. S. for the percentage of its graduates who go on to earn a PhD. Caltech started as a school founded in Pasadena in 1891 by local businessman and politician Amos G. Throop. The school was known successively as Throop University, Throop Polytechnic Institute, the vocational school was disbanded and the preparatory program was split off to form an independent Polytechnic School in 1907. At a time when research in the United States was still in its infancy, George Ellery Hale. He joined Throops board of trustees in 1907, and soon began developing it and he engineered the appointment of James A. B. Scherer, a literary scholar untutored in science but a capable administrator and fund raiser, scherer persuaded retired businessman and trustee Charles W. Gates to donate $25,000 in seed money to build Gates Laboratory, the first science building on campus. In 1910, Throop moved to its current site, arther Fleming donated the land for the permanent campus site. The promise of Throop attracted physical chemist Arthur Amos Noyes from MIT to develop the institution and assist in establishing it as a center for science, with the onset of World War I, Hale organized the National Research Council to coordinate and support scientific work on military problems. This institution, with its able investigators and excellent research laboratories, through the National Research Council, Hale simultaneously lobbied for science to play a larger role in national affairs, and for Throop to play a national role in science. During the course of the war, Hale, Noyes and Millikan worked together in Washington on the NRC, subsequently, they continued their partnership in developing Caltech. Under the leadership of Hale, Noyes and Millikan, Caltech grew to prominence in the 1920s
6.
Dwarf planet
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A dwarf planet is a planetary-mass object that is neither a planet nor a natural satellite. The International Astronomical Union currently recognizes five dwarf planets, Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, another hundred or so known objects in the Solar System are suspected to be dwarf planets. Individual astronomers recognize several of these, and in August 2011 Mike Brown published a list of 390 candidate objects, Stern states that there are more than a dozen known dwarf planets. Only two of these bodies, Ceres and Pluto, have observed in enough detail to demonstrate that they actually fit the IAUs definition. The IAU accepted Eris as a dwarf planet because it is more massive than Pluto and they subsequently decided that unnamed trans-Neptunian objects with an absolute magnitude brighter than +1 are to be named under the assumption that they are dwarf planets. The classification of bodies in other systems with the characteristics of dwarf planets has not been addressed. Starting in 1801, astronomers discovered Ceres and other bodies between Mars and Jupiter which were for some decades considered to be planets. Between then and around 1851, when the number of planets had reached 23, astronomers started using the asteroid for the smaller bodies. With the discovery of Pluto in 1930, most astronomers considered the Solar System to have nine planets and it was roughly one-twentieth the mass of Mercury, which made Pluto by far the smallest planet. Although it was more than ten times as massive as the largest object in the asteroid belt, Ceres. In the 1990s, astronomers began to find objects in the region of space as Pluto. Many of these shared several of Plutos key orbital characteristics, and Pluto started being seen as the largest member of a new class of objects and this led some astronomers to stop referring to Pluto as a planet. Several terms, including subplanet and planetoid, started to be used for the now known as dwarf planets. By 2005, three trans-Neptunian objects comparable in size to Pluto had been reported and it became clear that either they would also have to be classified as planets, or Pluto would have to be reclassified. Astronomers were also confident that more objects as large as Pluto would be discovered, Eris was discovered in January 2005, it was thought to be slightly larger than Pluto, and some reports informally referred to it as the tenth planet. As a consequence, the became a matter of intense debate during the IAU General Assembly in August 2006. The IAUs initial draft proposal included Charon, Eris, and Ceres in the list of planets, dropping Charon from the list, the new proposal also removed Pluto, Ceres, and Eris, because they have not cleared their orbits. The IAUs final Resolution 5A preserved this three-category system for the bodies orbiting the Sun
7.
Pluto
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Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond Neptune. It was the first Kuiper belt object to be discovered, Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 and was originally considered to be the ninth planet from the Sun. After 1992, its planethood was questioned following the discovery of objects of similar size in the Kuiper belt. In 2005, Eris, which is 27% more massive than Pluto, was discovered and this led the International Astronomical Union to define the term planet formally in 2006, during their 26th General Assembly. That definition excluded Pluto and reclassified it as a dwarf planet, Pluto is the largest and second-most-massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun. It is the largest known trans-Neptunian object by volume but is less massive than Eris, like other Kuiper belt objects, Pluto is primarily made of ice and rock and is relatively small—about one-sixth the mass of the Moon and one-third its volume. It has an eccentric and inclined orbit during which it ranges from 30 to 49 astronomical units or AU from the Sun. This means that Pluto periodically comes closer to the Sun than Neptune, light from the Sun takes about 5.5 hours to reach Pluto at its average distance. Pluto has five moons, Charon, Styx, Nix, Kerberos. Pluto and Charon are sometimes considered a system because the barycenter of their orbits does not lie within either body. The IAU has not formalized a definition for binary dwarf planets, on July 14,2015, the New Horizons spacecraft became the first spacecraft to fly by Pluto. During its brief flyby, New Horizons made detailed measurements and observations of Pluto, on October 25,2016, at 05,48 pm ET, the last bit of data was received from New Horizons from its close encounter with Pluto on July 14,2015. In the 1840s, Urbain Le Verrier used Newtonian mechanics to predict the position of the then-undiscovered planet Neptune after analysing perturbations in the orbit of Uranus. Subsequent observations of Neptune in the late 19th century led astronomers to speculate that Uranuss orbit was being disturbed by another planet besides Neptune, by 1909, Lowell and William H. Pickering had suggested several possible celestial coordinates for such a planet. Lowell and his observatory conducted his search until his death in 1916, unknown to Lowell, his surveys had captured two faint images of Pluto on March 19 and April 7,1915, but they were not recognized for what they were. There are fourteen other known prediscovery observations, with the oldest made by the Yerkes Observatory on August 20,1909. Percivals widow, Constance Lowell, entered into a legal battle with the Lowell Observatory over her late husbands legacy. Tombaughs task was to image the night sky in pairs of photographs, then examine each pair
8.
Kavli Prize
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The Kavli Prize was established in 2005 through a joint venture between the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and The Kavli Foundation. The Kavli Prize was awarded the first time in Oslo,9 September 2008, the Prizes were presented by His Royal Highness Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway. Each of the three Kavli Prizes consists of a medal, a scroll, and a cash award of US $1,000,000. The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters administer the selection process, the Kavli Prize, official site The Kavli Prize on The Kavli Foundation site The Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research
9.
Kuiper belt
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It is similar to the asteroid belt, but it is far larger—20 times as wide and 20 to 200 times as massive. Like the asteroid belt, it consists mainly of small bodies, although many asteroids are composed primarily of rock and metal, most Kuiper belt objects are composed largely of frozen volatiles, such as methane, ammonia and water. The Kuiper belt is home to three officially recognized dwarf planets, Pluto, Haumea, and Makemake, some of the Solar Systems moons, such as Neptunes Triton and Saturns Phoebe, are also thought to have originated in the region. The Kuiper belt was named after Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper, though he did not actually predict its existence, in 1992,1992 QB1 was discovered, the first Kuiper belt object since Pluto. Since its discovery, the number of known KBOs has increased to over a thousand, the Kuiper belt should not be confused with the theorized Oort cloud, which is a thousand times more distant and is mostly spherical. The objects within the Kuiper belt, together with the members of the scattered disc, Pluto is the largest and most-massive member of the Kuiper belt and the largest and the second-most-massive known TNO, surpassed only by Eris in the scattered disc. Originally considered a planet, Plutos status as part of the Kuiper belt caused it to be reclassified as a planet in 2006. It is compositionally similar to other objects of the Kuiper belt, and its orbital period is characteristic of a class of KBOs, known as plutinos. After the discovery of Pluto in 1930, many speculated that it not be alone. The region now called the Kuiper belt was hypothesized in various forms for decades and it was only in 1992 that the first direct evidence for its existence was found. The number and variety of speculations on the nature of the Kuiper belt have led to continued uncertainty as to who deserves credit for first proposing it. The first astronomer to suggest the existence of a population was Frederick C. That same year, astronomer Armin O. Leuschner suggested that Pluto may be one of many long-period planetary objects yet to be discovered. Kuiper was operating on the common in his time that Pluto was the size of Earth and had therefore scattered these bodies out toward the Oort cloud or out of the Solar System. Were Kuipers hypothesis correct, there would not be a Kuiper belt today, the hypothesis took many other forms in the following decades. Cameron postulated the existence of a mass of small material on the outskirts of the solar system. Observation, however, ruled out this hypothesis, in 1977, Charles Kowal discovered 2060 Chiron, an icy planetoid with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus. He used a blink comparator, the device that had allowed Clyde Tombaugh to discover Pluto nearly 50 years before
10.
Doctor of Philosophy
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A Doctor of Philosophy is a type of doctoral degree awarded by universities in many countries. Ph. D. s are awarded for a range of programs in the sciences, engineering. The Ph. D. is a degree in many fields. The completion of a Ph. D. is often a requirement for employment as a university professor, researcher, individuals with an earned doctorate can use the title of Doctor with their name and use the post-nominal letters Ph. D. The requirements to earn a Ph. D. degree vary considerably according to the country, institution, a person who attains a doctorate of philosophy is automatically awarded the academic title of doctor. A student attaining this level may be granted a Candidate of Philosophy degree at some institutions. A Ph. D. candidate must submit a project, thesis or dissertation often consisting of a body of academic research. In many countries, a candidate must defend this work before a panel of examiners appointed by the university. Universities award other types of doctorates besides the Ph. D. such as the Doctor of Musical Arts, a degree for music performers and the Doctor of Education, in 2016, ELIA launched The Florence Principles on the Doctorate in the Arts. The Florence Principles have been endorsed are supported also by AEC, CILECT, CUMULUS, the degree is abbreviated PhD, from the Latin Philosophiae Doctor, pronounced as three separate letters. In the universities of Medieval Europe, study was organized in four faculties, the faculty of arts. All of these faculties awarded intermediate degrees and final degrees, the doctorates in the higher faculties were quite different from the current Ph. D. degree in that they were awarded for advanced scholarship, not original research. No dissertation or original work was required, only lengthy residency requirements, besides these degrees, there was the licentiate. According to Keith Allan Noble, the first doctoral degree was awarded in medieval Paris around 1150, the doctorate of philosophy developed in Germany as the terminal Teachers credential in the 17th century. Typically, upon completion, the candidate undergoes an oral examination, always public, starting in 2016, in Ukraine Doctor of Philosophy is the highest education level and the first science degree. PhD is awarded in recognition of a contribution to scientific knowledge. A PhD degree is a prerequisite for heading a university department in Ukraine, upon completion of a PhD, a PhD holder can elect to continue his studies and get a post-doctoral degree called Doctor of Sciences, which is the second and the highest science degree in Ukraine. Scandinavian countries were among the early adopters of a known as a doctorate of philosophy
11.
Sun
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The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 109 times that of Earth, and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth, accounting for about 99. 86% of the total mass of the Solar System. About three quarters of the Suns mass consists of hydrogen, the rest is mostly helium, with smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon. The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star based on its spectral class and it formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of matter within a region of a large molecular cloud. Most of this matter gathered in the center, whereas the rest flattened into a disk that became the Solar System. The central mass became so hot and dense that it eventually initiated nuclear fusion in its core and it is thought that almost all stars form by this process. The Sun is roughly middle-aged, it has not changed dramatically for more than four billion years and it is calculated that the Sun will become sufficiently large enough to engulf the current orbits of Mercury, Venus, and probably Earth. The enormous effect of the Sun on Earth has been recognized since prehistoric times, the synodic rotation of Earth and its orbit around the Sun are the basis of the solar calendar, which is the predominant calendar in use today. The English proper name Sun developed from Old English sunne and may be related to south, all Germanic terms for the Sun stem from Proto-Germanic *sunnōn. The English weekday name Sunday stems from Old English and is ultimately a result of a Germanic interpretation of Latin dies solis, the Latin name for the Sun, Sol, is not common in general English language use, the adjectival form is the related word solar. The term sol is used by planetary astronomers to refer to the duration of a solar day on another planet. A mean Earth solar day is approximately 24 hours, whereas a mean Martian sol is 24 hours,39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. From at least the 4th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the Sun was worshipped as the god Ra, portrayed as a falcon-headed divinity surmounted by the solar disk, and surrounded by a serpent. In the New Empire period, the Sun became identified with the dung beetle, in the form of the Sun disc Aten, the Sun had a brief resurgence during the Amarna Period when it again became the preeminent, if not only, divinity for the Pharaoh Akhenaton. The Sun is viewed as a goddess in Germanic paganism, Sól/Sunna, in ancient Roman culture, Sunday was the day of the Sun god. It was adopted as the Sabbath day by Christians who did not have a Jewish background, the symbol of light was a pagan device adopted by Christians, and perhaps the most important one that did not come from Jewish traditions
12.
Eris (dwarf planet)
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Eris is the most massive and second-largest dwarf planet known in the Solar System. It is also the known body directly orbiting the Sun. It is measured to be 2,326 ±12 kilometers in diameter, Eris is 27% more massive than dwarf planet Pluto, though Pluto is slightly larger by volume. Eris mass is about 0. 27% of the Earths mass, Eris was discovered in January 2005 by a Palomar Observatory-based team led by Mike Brown, and its identity was verified later that year. It is an object and a member of a high-eccentricity population known as the scattered disk. It has one moon, Dysnomia. As of February 2016, its distance from the Sun is 96.3 astronomical units, because Eris appeared to be larger than Pluto, NASA initially described it as the Solar Systems tenth planet. This, along with the prospect of other objects of similar size being discovered in the future, motivated the International Astronomical Union to define the term planet for the first time. Observations of an occultation by Eris in 2010 showed that its diameter was 2,326 ±12 kilometers, very slightly less than Pluto. Eris was discovered by the team of Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo, the discovery was announced on July 29,2005, the same day as Makemake and two days after Haumea, due in part to events that would later lead to controversy about Haumea. Routine observations were taken by the team on October 21,2003, in January 2005, the re-analysis revealed Eriss slow motion against the background stars. Follow-up observations were carried out to make a preliminary determination of Eriss orbit. More observations released in October 2005 revealed that Eris has a moon, observations of Dysnomias orbit permitted scientists to determine the mass of Eris, which in June 2007 they calculated to be ×1022 kg, 27%±2% greater than Plutos. Eris is named after the Greek goddess Eris, a personification of strife, the regular adjectival form of Eris is Eridian. As a result, for a time the object known to the wider public as Xena. Xena was a name used internally by the discovery team. It was inspired by the character of the television series Xena. The discovery team had saved the nickname Xena for the first body they discovered that was larger than Pluto
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