Photo: Publishers: Mike Brown prefers the image on his personal website. / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)

Michael E. Brown

マイケル・ブラウン　/　まいける・ぶらうん

American astronomer

June 5, 1965 (age 61)　・　Huntsville, Alabama, United States

Alabama
astronomer

My Take

Mike Brown is the guy who, by his own cheerful admission, killed Pluto, and I find that honesty refreshing for a scientist. Born in Huntsville, Alabama in 1965, schooled at Grissom High and Princeton, he's been at Caltech since 2003 hunting the cold edge of the solar system. His team's discovery of Eris is what really forced the question of what a planet even is, and the dwarf-planet reclassification followed. The 2012 Kavli Prize and the earlier Urey Prize confirm the field took him seriously. To me he's proof that the best discoveries can be the ones that overturn what we thought we knew.

Overview

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.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1. Profile

Name (English): Michael E. Brown
Name (Japanese): マイケル・ブラウン
Reading: まいける・ぶらうん
Born: June 5, 1965 (age 61)
Zodiac / Chinese zodiac: Gemini / Snake
Origin: Huntsville, Alabama, United States
Blood type: Private
Height: Private
Agency: Private
Occupation: astronomer

2. Background

Elementary school: Private
Junior high: Private
High school: Virgil I. Grissom High School
University: Princeton University

Awards & achievements

2012 Kavli Prize in Astrophysics
2001 Harold C. Urey Prize

3. Relationships

Spouse: Private
Children: Private
Parents: Private
Siblings: Private

4. Personality

Motto

Private

6. Links

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