2006 in science facts for kids

The year 2006 was an exciting time for science, with many important discoveries and events happening around the world and in space!

Amazing Space Adventures in 2006

Journeys to Distant Worlds

• On January 19, NASA launched a special spacecraft called New Horizons. Its mission was to travel all the way to Pluto and beyond, giving us our first close-up look at this distant world.
• Just a few days later, on January 25, scientists found a new planet! It was named OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb. This discovery showed us how many different kinds of planets are out there.

Pluto's Big Change

• In February 1, scientists discovered that a dwarf planet named Eris was actually bigger than Pluto! This was a big surprise.
• Later that year, on August 24, Pluto had a big change. Scientists decided that it would no longer be called a full planet. Instead, it was reclassified as a dwarf planet. This decision helped us understand more about how we group objects in our Solar System.
• To make things even clearer, on September 13, the object known as 2003 UB313 officially received its new name: Eris.

Moons and Eclipses

• On June 30, scientists found 9 more natural satellites orbiting Saturn! This brought the total number of known moons around Saturn even higher, showing how much more there is to explore in our own solar system.
• A spectacular event happened on March 19: a total solar eclipse! This amazing sight, where the Moon completely blocks the Sun, could be seen in many places around the world, including Brazil, Greece, Turkey, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Images for kids

• 

  This image shows the "diamond ring" effect during the total solar eclipse on March 29, 2006, as seen from Turkey.