Pluto is nowhere to be seen

Pluto is not visible from a dust barrier

American amateur astronomer C. Tombangh used a refracting telescope in 1930 to take systematic photos along the entire ecliptic. After comparison, he found that the position of a light spot in the photo had moved significantly. He then used a telescope to directly follow and observe it, and finally made a major discovery in astronomy - Pluto. Pluto is the ninth planet in the solar system. Since its existence was predicted at the beginning of this century, countless astronomers have forgotten their sleep and food and worn out iron shoes in order to find traces of it, but they have never seen a trace. In 1905, the American astronomer Pdrcival Lowell (1855-1916) once again clearly predicted that there might be an unknown large planet outside Neptune based on the unexplained residual perturbations in the motion of astronomical stars and Neptune. Because those residual The perturbation is very small, so calculations cannot be used to predict its specific orbit and position like the discovery of Neptune. We can only roughly indicate the area in the sky where it may be located. Lowell himself also conducted careful observations for a long time, using various instruments to take photos and searches of the sky. It lasted more than 10 years, and he was able to see far away. He spent a lot of effort. Until his death in 1916, he still had no results. Astronomer W. H. Pickering, according to the general orientation pointed out by Crowell, had already taken a picture of Pluto when he took a sky photo in 1919. However, because the lens was not wiped clean during the shooting, Pluto was in the exact right position in the picture. There is a speck of dust. Pickering was not careful enough when observing the photos, and he was negligent and failed to discover the new planet in time. Eleven years later, when Tombaugh announced that he had discovered a new planet, Pluto, in the photos taken in the Gemini constellation, which was only 5° away from the position of Pluto pointed out by Lowell, Pickering rediscovered where he was. When he made in-depth and detailed observations of the photos taken in that sky area, he suddenly discovered that the new star discovered by Tom Bo was the same planet he had discovered more than 10 years ago. However, the time has passed and will not come again. Because Pickering was unable to observe carefully and carefully, he lost the priority to discover Pluto, which was a lifelong regret for Pickering.

Although Tombaugh did not encounter dust obstruction, he was able to discover Pluto thanks to his observation ability and uninhibited spirit. He took a large number of photos of the sky. Each photo has hundreds of thousands or millions of bright spots. Even the very dim stars that must be increased 2,500 times in height before they can barely be seen with the naked eye are also recorded in the photos. , he repeatedly searched and compared a large number of photos, selected about 20,000 highlights that were "attractive" to him, and carefully identified them. The result was that all of them were "mediocre and useless" and found nothing. It was not until March 13, 1930, that he finally found the new planet he had dreamed of - Pluto from the millions of bright spots in many photos.

Observation is an important method for scientific research and scientific discovery. In scientific research, observing anything must be in-depth and meticulous, "careful, careful, and more careful." "Observe, observe, observe again", these are the two slogans in front of the Pavlov Experimental Building. "You didn't observe carefully. Even though you have long eyes, you are still blind. Although you saw, you didn't see." Remember this teaching from our predecessors and remember to be careless and turn a blind eye.