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Topic: Tenth Planet discovered - bigger than Pluto!
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 30 July 2005 12:00 AM
quote:
The planet is a typical member of the Kuiper belt, but its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets means that it can only be classified as a planet, Brown said. Currently about 97 times further from the sun than the Earth, the planet is the farthest-known object in the solar system, and the third brightest of the Kuiper belt objects. Brown, Trujillo and Rabinowitz first photographed the new planet with the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope on October 31, 2003. However, the object was so far away that its motion was not detected until they reanalyzed the data in January of this year. In the last seven months, the scientists have been studying the planet to better estimate its size and its motions. "It's definitely bigger than Pluto," said Brown, who is a professor of planetary astronomy. Source
This is huge news!Pluto was discovered in 1930, and this is the first planet found since then to be orbiting our Sun. Pictures and viewing co-ordinates [ 30 July 2005: Message edited by: M. Spector ]
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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Albireo
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3052
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posted 30 July 2005 09:58 AM
I'm not sure if this will catch on as "the tenth planet" in either scientific or popular circles -- or that Pluto would have been the ninth, if it were discovered more recently, when we knew more about the outer solar system. Both are objects that are smaller than Earth's moon.It's not really important whether we call it a "planet" or not. We have 4 large rocky objects in the inner solar system, a bunch of smaller rocky objects (asteroids, mainly concentrated in a belt between Mars and Jupiter), 4 gas giant objects, a bunch of icy "Kuiper belt" objects including Pluto, Charon and the more recently discovered objects, there's an "Oort cloud" of icy comets much further out, and some comets with a regular orbit. It's all just "stuff going around the sun", millions of objects, and we call 9 (or 8 or 10) of those things "planets" due to a fairly arbitrary cut-off in size. Incidentally, those planets, together with all of their moons, the asteroids, Kuiper belt objects, comets, etc... all of that stuff makes up only about 0.3% of the mass of the whole solar system. The other 99.7% is in the sun itself. What we have here is a star with a bit of debris around it. It's kind of humbling... even before you start to consider the scope of the galaxy, or the universe as a whole. [ 30 July 2005: Message edited by: Albireo ]
From: --> . <-- | Registered: Sep 2002
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M. Spector
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8273
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posted 30 July 2005 02:09 PM
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Originally posted by raccunk:
Mary Violet Evans May Jump Slowly Under Nice Ponies.
Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
Actually, its Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, etc.I think I've found the flaw in your little mnemonic! 
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005
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snowmandn
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 6785
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posted 30 July 2005 11:44 PM
When Neptune was first discovered, initial data found that it's orbit was a bit "off" with respect to its size. At the time, people speculated that there must be a 9th planet, massive enough to "alter" Neptune's orbit (known as Planet X).1930--They found Pluto. They thought that it must be Planet X. How wrong they were to think that it is massive. So Pluto being classed as a planet was almost an accident. New data on Neptune found that its orbit isn't off anyway, considering its updated mass. This new, "10th planet", should make a strong case for Pluto as a Trans-Neptunian Object. Though the exact classification is really irrelevant.
From: Between the deep blues | Registered: Sep 2004
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rsfarrell
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7770
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posted 31 July 2005 03:27 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Papal Bull:
It has to be after a god, or goddess. Or at least a minion. Minos, Cerebrus, etc. could be in line.
Tartarus is also a god: Tartarus quote:
Primeval God of Hell, and the place of ultimate punishment.
One of the first Gods to arise from the void of Creation, TARTARUS, like his siblings NYX and CHAOS, personifies ultimate formless gloom. Little is known of his personality but as the first God of Hell we assume him to be a dour and depressing being.
TARTARUS lives in the bowels of the Earth, many miles below as the anvil falls, and holds together the bottomless pits of the world. Presumably HADES rents the Underworld from him on favorable terms. As Greek Mythology developed, TARTARUS sank into oblivion, giving his name to the dark places of punishment for those that have been judged guilty of unspeakablenesses.
From: Portland, Oregon | Registered: Dec 2004
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