A few months ago, we watched Solar System, Professor Brian Cox's excellent BBC series, which offers a fascinating look into some of the most recent scientific discoveries about our nearest neighbours in space. It's well worth watching if you can, it's available on the BBC I-player, for anyone who can access that.
Soon after finishing watching the programme, I picked up a second hand copy of 'How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had it Coming' by Mike Brown.
This is an excellent and informative book about the author's search for possible new planets at the outer edge of the solar system. It's a chatty, engrossing peek into the life of an astronomer, the tedium of scanning loads of photos looking for likely new planets, the excitement of finding a likely candidate and the controversies that take place when different teams of astronomers clash. It also offers insights into how new bodies in the solar system are categorised and named, and looks into the debate over whether Pluto should remain a planet or be demoted (spoiler for those who don't know, Pluto is no longer considered a planet!) Alongside the author's research, we're given insights into his family life, including the early years of his daughter's life (who showed early signs of being fascinated by astronomy!)
This is a very readable book and definitely recommended for anyone interested in how astronomy actually works.
How I Killed Pluto and Why it Had it Coming (2012) by Mike Brown, published by Spiegel and Grau.
You can read about Mike Brown's involvement in the search for a ninth planet in the solar system in Shannon Stirone's article The Hunt for Planet Nine on the Long Reads site.