There's a famous expression that “You should never jump to a conclusion,” which is usually a good idea. But oddly enough, that's how an astronomer finally found Pluto! It literally jumped out at him. If you decided you wanted to find a planet, what would you think you would need to do? You would probably spend lots of time calculating where you think it should be, scan the skies, and take lots of pictures using your telescope. If you use a machine that can move quickly between the photographs of the same areas of space, and it makes that star you thought you were looking at appear to jump, maybe you have found a new planet!Do you believe Pluto was the planet that astronomers thought was affecting Uranus and Neptune's orbits or do you think there are more planets lurking even fartheraway from the sun? If it were about the same size as Pluto and as dark as most of the outer moons in the solar system are, would anyone see it? Do you think Pluto should still be called a planet? Many astronomersdon't. If you are wondering why, it's because they think it escaped from the group of icy objects that circlethe edge of the solar system. They also think there are more just waiting to be discovered. Maybe some of them are even bigger than Pluto!

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Cookies That Are Out of This World

You can make some planet cookies by using any cookie dough, although sugar cookie dough can be colored differently for each planet. Roll your dough in a ball and then place a treat inside to be the planets' core, such as a chocolate kiss or other small candy. Then have an adult bake the cookies and let them cool.