Solar System Exploration
Lauren Young
Pre 1900:
Percival Lowell
Main Discoveries
Percival found existence of a planet beyond the orbit of Neptune
He was looking for what he called planet x from 1905 until his death in 1916 he didn't end up finding it
Technologies Used
He used a 5 inch telescope. He took pictures of the sky for two years To study them, he laid one plate over the other and used a magnify glass to look for any shift in the stars.
Contributions to knowledge
he helped us find out how many planets are in our solar system.
post 1900
Mission-Messenger
Goal
The key mission goal is to explain why Mercury is the only inner planet besides the earth to have a global magnetic field.
Technologies Used
A camera with wide and narrow fields of view.
discoveries
New results from the MESSENGER spacecraft not only confirm that the planet closest to the sun has ice inside.
additional information
studying the planet's magnetic field and dense core, which is believed to make up at least 60% of its mass.