Posted on 09/30/2018 12:37:24 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
New Horizons not only showed humanity what Pluto looks like, but also provided information on the composition of Plutos atmosphere and surface. These maps assembled using data from the Ralph instrument indicate regions rich in methane (CH4), nitrogen (N2), carbon monoxide (CO) and water (H2O) ices. Sputnik Planitia shows an especially strong signature of nitrogen near the equator. SwRI scientists combined these data with Rosettas comet 67P data to develop a proposed giant comet model for Pluto formation. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute
"Ninth Planet" keyword:
The Debate: Is Pluto A Planet, Asteroid Or Comet?
from March 19, 1996
https://news.utk.edu/1996/03/19/the-debate-is-pluto-a-planet-asteroid-or-comet/
Pluto Has A Comet-Like Tail, X-Rays, NASA Discovers
Sep 14, 2016, 01:00pm
https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2016/09/14/thats-no-comet-thats-pluto-comet-like-tail-and-x-rays-discovered-at-solar-systems-edge/
Is Pluto Actually a Mash-up of a Billion Comets?
By Julissa Trevino
smithsonian.com
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-think-pluto-made-billions-comets-180969183/
Wheres Dr Velikovsky when we need him?
My definition of a planet: whatever the professionals say and not those who have nostalgic feelings for a tiny ball of ice they’ll never even see themselves.
I will *never* accept Pluto’s demotion from planet status.
;)
Pluto and every object in the solar system both large and very small were formed in the same manner. Gravitational forces attracted matter that accreted into a larger and larger mass
That process is ongoing
IOW, you agree with David Levy, good to know.
If that’s his position on this, then sure. I’ve heard about Pluto from people who get their knowledge of astronomy from Star Wars.
Heard enough, I mean. I’m typing with a splinted index finger.
The demotion of Pluto was an entirely political act, carried out by a small group.
OK I’ll bite. What was their political motivation for reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet?
A group of foreign a-holes suddenly wanted the huge controversy (/sarc) about the definition of planet settled, otherwise the entire science of astronomy was going right into the bin (/sarc), and they just happened to concentrate their fire on the only planet that to that point had been discovered by someone in the US. The first proposals were too hostile, so a compromise was reached.
Well, regardless of their political views, their reasoning is very much grounded in actual astrophysics. Planets form by sweeping up all the material in their respective orbits, more or less dominating them. Pluto formed in a manner more similar to asteroids in the asteroid belt. It has far more similarities to them and other KBO’s (Kuiper belt objects), so it’s not a far stretch that it deserves to be classified among them. But we’re still discovering things about it, so who knows...
Apparently you weren't around in the 60's & 70's. Spent more than one evening there.
Does that mean that Pluto is just like, a bad trip, man?
I was around for most of the 60’s, but not old enough to join the culture you’re probably referring to. I think the same drugs were still around in the 80’s, though...
I was just joking. I think you can get the same effect with tequila, though. :)
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