On January 1, 1801, a Sicilian astronomer named Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the dwarf planet Ceres orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
At the time, Ceres was considered to be a planet. But after astronomers found more things orbiting in the same region over the next few decades, they demoted Ceres and all those other objects to asteroid status. However, in 2006, the big debate about Pluto's planetary status led astronomers to redefine what it means to be a planet, and Ceres was reclassified as a dwarf planet along with. While it is the smallest of the known dwarf planets, it is the largest object in the asteroid belt.
At the time, Ceres was considered to be a planet. But after astronomers found more things orbiting in the same region over the next few decades, they demoted Ceres and all those other objects to asteroid status. However, in 2006, the big debate about Pluto's planetary status led astronomers to redefine what it means to be a planet, and Ceres was reclassified as a dwarf planet along with. While it is the smallest of the known dwarf planets, it is the largest object in the asteroid belt.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:03On New Year's Day in 1801, a Sicilian astronomer named Giuseppe Piazzi
00:08discovered the dwarf planet Ceres orbiting the sun between Mars and Jupiter.
00:12At the time, Ceres was considered to be a planet.
00:15But after astronomers found more things orbiting in the same region over the next few decades,
00:19they demoted Ceres and all those other objects to asteroid status.
00:23However, in 2006, the big debate about Pluto's planetary status
00:27led astronomers to redefine what it means to be a planet,
00:29and Ceres was reclassified again as a dwarf planet, along with Pluto.
00:33While it is the smallest of the known dwarf planets,
00:36it is the largest object in the asteroid belt.
00:39And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:42♪