Michael E. Brown
Michael E. Brown (born June 5, 1965) is an American astronomer, who has been professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) since 2003. His team has discovered many trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), including the dwarf planet Eris, which was originally thought to be bigger than Pluto, triggering a debate on the definition of a planet.
Michael E. Brown | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 5, 1965 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Princeton University UC Berkeley |
| Known for | Discovery of Eris and other trans-Neptunian objects How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming |
| Spouse |
Diane Binney (m. 2003) |
| Children | 1 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Planetary astronomy |
| Doctoral students | Chad Trujillo, Marc Kuchner, Megan Schwamb, Konstantin Batygin |
| Website | www |
He has been referred to by himself and by others as the man who "killed Pluto", because he furthered Pluto's being downgraded to a dwarf planet in the aftermath of his discovery of Eris and several other probable trans-Neptunian dwarf planets. He is the author of How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, published in 2010. He was awarded the Kavli Prize (shared with Jane Luu and David C. Jewitt) in 2012 "for discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members, work that led to a major advance in the understanding of the history of our planetary system."