Bizarre Dwarf Planet Wrapped in Ice Blanket

Space.com ^ | 25 July 2011 | Charles Q. Choi

[Windflier]

Radioactivity and gravity may be why the strange football-shaped dwarf planet known as Haumea and its moons are unexpectedly sheathed in crystalline ice, shining in space, researchers suggest.

Haumea, named after the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth, orbits the sun beyond the path of Neptune, with two moons in orbit around it named Hi'iaka and Namaka, two of the deity's daughters.

Haumea is a bizarre dwarf planet world shaped like a cigar, or perhaps an American football, measuring about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) long, and makes one full rotation in less than four hours. This is one of the fastest rotation speeds in the solar system, which gave Haumea its odd shape.

[agere_contra]

Real Football is played with the foot.

The. Clue. Is. In. The. Name. “Football”

American Football is like Rugby - except that the oh-so-butch players wear kilograms of padding in case they break a nail.

American Football is static, tedious and repetitive. It’s better than basketball though (only because basketball is a variant of lane swimming).

Cheerleaders however - they’re kind of fun.

[W. W. SMITH]

I was 15 or 16 and had a paper back with a very dark cover. My mother noticed the tittle, A Night To Remember, and tore it to shreds and threw it in the stove. She would not listen to reason. I had to get the same book from the library and show her that it was about the sinking of the Titanic. That was fifty years ago and she now insists it never happened.

[Former War Criminal]

What ever happened to the Columbia Record Club?

[tlb]

>>> Haumea is a bizarre dwarf planet world shaped like a cigar, or perhaps an American football,

Then is it actually not a Dwarf Planet after all? In their haste to demote Pluto from it’s planetary status, the definitions were changed.

“A dwarf planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting the Sun[1] that is massive enough to be spherical as a result of its own gravity but has not cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals and is not a satellite.[2][3] More explicitly, it has to have sufficient mass to overcome its compressive strength and achieve hydrostatic equilibrium.”

“The IAU currently recognizes five dwarf planets—Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. However, only two of these bodies, Ceres and Pluto, have been observed in enough detail to demonstrate that they fit the definition.”

And now we see Haumea is not spherical. Seems to me under the rules it cannot be a dwarf planet and will have to be reclassified. A small piece of vengeance for Pluto.

[Spktyr]

iTunes.

[GeronL]

That image is creepy!

[LRS]

That’s just Mork from Ork piloting his egg...

[hattend]

American Football is static, tedious and repetitive.

At least there is scoring involved.

And you'd probably want as much padding as possible when a 300 pound linebacker clocks you at full gallop.

Wow, football on an astronomy thread.

[aruanan]

I thought it was “little people’s” planet, not dwarf.

It's a planette.

[bd476]

GeronL wrote: "That image is creepy!"

Thank you, GeronL. I made that graphic and am glad that it had an impact upon you.

What is really creepy is the idea of the lights going out at Free Republic. Today, July 30, 2011 is the 30th day of the Third Quarter 2011 Freepathon and we're not even half way done yet.

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[muawiyah]

There are, of course, the "little people", but there are still "dwarves", and worst of all "The professional midgets" ~ who can be found almost everywhere in whatever size you might imagine them.

Even Mooshell is a "professional midget" when she wants to be.

[muawiyah]

There are, of course, the "little people", but there are still "dwarves", and worst of all "The professional midgets" ~ who can be found almost everywhere in whatever size you might imagine them.

Even Mooshell is a "professional midget" when she wants to be.

[winodog]

I remember my mom and dad having that back in 1965.
I still LOVE Winchester Cathedral

[InvisibleChurch]

Bizarre Dwarf Planet Wrapped in Ice Blanket

It sounds like one of the treats you could buy if the solar system held a state fair.

[KeepUSfree]

I believe it....one of the Greatest Bands ever.

And, after all of these years, I still think Katy Lied is the best Album AND song they ever did......

[Grut]

That’s not an American football, it’s a Rugby ball.

[SunkenCiv]

Yup GeronL, part of the Solar System; and thanks all for the pics.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2756125/posts?page=20#20

Mike Brown discusses his discovery:

http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/2008/09/haumea.html

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

Katy Lied is the album name, the song is “Dr Wu”. :’)

[grellis]

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