• Question: Hi, how can you see dwarf plannets from earth when they are dead

    Asked by to Sarah on 16 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Sarah Casewell

      Sarah Casewell answered on 16 Jun 2014:


      Dwarf planets like pluto are in our solar system. Pluto was discovered when astronomers noticed a dim star moving quite fast from year to year. When they measured this it turned out to be pluto!

      The brown dwarfs I study are bright in the infrared wavelengths (heat) so we discover them using those wavelengths. You can’t see them from earth with your eyes, but we can with telescopes.

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