The following essay is written with the information taught as fact by the Ron Paul Curriculum. Whether or not the information is true is debatable, but since is a school assignment, I will write the essay as such.
In space, even our longest or largest “earthly” measurements of distance are dwarfed. Such measurements of kilometers or miles become unwieldy. This called for a new unit of measurement.
Astronomers created the Astronomical Unit. One AU (Astronomical Unit) is the distance between the Sun and the Earth. Thus, there is .39 AU between the Sun and Mercury, .72 AU between the Sun and Venus, 1 AU between the Sun and the Earth, and 1.52 AU between the Sun and Mars. Astronomers noticed a trend. They called this trend was called the Titius-Bode Hypothesis which stated that the distance between the planets and the sun would approximately double with each planet.
…then suddenly, there is 5.2 AU between the Sun and Jupiter. This did not match the Titius-Bode Hypothesis. So Astronomers began searching for another planet: Planet X. This planet would fall in the space between Mars and Jupiter. Finally, after much searching, they came across an object orbiting in space. Astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi (the astronomer who first found the object), believing this object to be the missing planet, named it Ceres. The problem was resolved.
For a while, Ceres was considered a planet; however, as time went on, numerous more objects were found orbiting in the same plane. Astronomers soon realized that these were not planets, but rather, smaller groups of objects called asteroids. They then found that these asteroids are only a few of thousands of objects orbiting in the asteroid belt. Astronomers now realize that, although they found Ceres, the hypothesis that forced them to strive to find Ceres was, unfortunately, built on a faulty ideology.
Land Of The Living 