Michael E. Brown

Michael E. Brown is an American astronomer born on June 5, 1965, professor of planetary astronomy at the California Institute of Technology since 2003. His team has discovered many trans-Neptunian objects, including the dwarf planet Eris, originally thought to be bigger than Pluto, a discovery that triggered a debate on the definition of a planet and contributed to Pluto own downgrade to a dwarf planet; he is the author of the book How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming, published in 2010. He shared the 2012 Kavli Prize with Jane Luu and David C. Jewitt for discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt and its largest members.