New Dwarf Planet Discovered Far Beyond Pluto's Orbit

space.com ^ | 07/11/2016

[BenLurkin]

Pluto isn't quite as lonely as scientists had thought.

Astronomers have discovered another dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy objects beyond Neptune. But this newfound world, dubbed 2015 RR245, is much more distant than Pluto, orbiting the sun once every 700 Earth years, scientists said. (Pluto completes one lap around the sun every 248 Earth years.)

"The icy worlds beyond Neptune trace how the giant planets formed and then moved out from the sun," discovery team member Michele Bannister, of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, said in a statement. "They let us piece together the history of our solar system."

...

The exact size of 2015 RR245 is not yet known, but the researchers think it's about 435 miles (700 kilometers) wide. Pluto is the largest resident of the Kuiper Belt, with a diameter of 1,474 miles (2,371 km).

The research team first spotted 2015 RR245 in February of this year, while poring over images that the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope in Hawaii took in September 2015 as part of the ongoing Outer Solar System Origins Survey (OSSOS).

"There it was on the screen — this dot of light moving so slowly that it had to be at least twice as far as Neptune from the sun," Bannister said.

[Monkey Face]

Oh, dear! That would be wonderful! Thanks!

[Monkey Face]

It would be nice to have to advanced grass substitute stimulant, here, but it would be more like advanced mortar mixture, which would make the desert floor as hard as concrete when the sun comes out to play. Which it is.

It seems all wet critters want to share in their dampness, for some reason. Why, is beyond me.

[Monkey Face]

107, visibility 4 miles, SE @ 4 mph, 22%

As the day goes on, the conditions are getting worse.

I hope it clears out somewhat overnight, as I don’t want to sit in church and snuffle and hack and cough. I hate when that happens.

[NicknamedBob]

" It seems all wet critters want to share in their dampness, for some reason. Why, is beyond me."

Even the driest critter is wet on the inside. Water is the magic ingredient that animates us.

“A Well Of Joy”( -- phrase by Joel Osteen)

There is a well of joy in you,
An ocean in your blood.
Be glad for this component,
The rest of you is mud.

Deep down inside your spirit,
A depth of strength and love,
Wells up to bring the zest to life,
A gift from up above.

When parched by circumstances,
Or reeling from a blow,
Tap into depths of energy,
Unlimited below.

The lifting of this resource,
Will lift you up as well,
To slake your thirst for happiness,
In places that you dwell.

The desert land of loneliness,
The mountains of despair,
Are quite improved by tiny sips,
Of nectar you can share.

Just reach inside your spirit,
The recipe is this,
When desolation comes to call,
Give it a sloppy kiss!

NicknamedBob . . . July 8, 2007 .

.

I Am Water

I am water. I will flow. There is no place I cannot go.
The heart in darkness still will stop, to taste refreshment in a drop.
Cool liquid, sweet and pure, that brings the strength to help endure.
The conflagration burning near will calm, and cool when I am here.

Descending with my friends who fall as tender mercies come to call.
A message from a Friend on High, arriving when the need is nigh.
I am water. I will seep in arid soil where seeds may sleep.
I’ll wake them gently and invite, their rise into the air and light.

My tender touch will gently clean the dust that falls on leaves of green.
In Nature’s garden, I am rain that fills with joy the fruit and grain.
In raging floods of constant thunder, I am that which rips asunder,
The shelters made of stone and sticks that took your hands so long to fix.

What is my purpose, showing might? Do I oppose you in some fight?
I am that force that breaks the stone, so plants and flowers can be sown.
I am the hammer blows that fall, to batter down the prison wall,
To make a garden. Food will grow and gentle souls and hearts may go.

I am water. I am Life. I am joy amid the strife.
Extinguishing the burning blaze, ending droughts, and cutting ways,
Through hardest stone, to break the rocks and open up the prison locks.
I am water. I am tears. I am with you in your fears.

I will wash your pain away and bring fresh hope at end of day.
I am water. I am you. I will make all things be new.
I am water. I will flow. There is no place I cannot go.
I am the hurts felt as you grow. I am water. I will flow.

NicknamedBob . . . . May 1, 2005

[Silentgypsy]

Lovely! Thank you.

[HKMk23]

Well, I think you’ll be OVERJOYED to learn that your arrival has been long anticipated; they’ve already built a Chick-fil-A in St. George for ya.

15 S River Rd #500, St George, UT 84790

[NicknamedBob]

Like that's going to do any good.

Tomorrow's Sunday, ya know.

[HKMk23]

Yes, ‘tis true; tomorrow’s Sunday...

...but MONDAY’S a’comin’!

[HKMk23]

...and — come Monday — we shall once again FEAST upon the scrumptiousness of deep-fried seasoned chicken sandwiches!

MUUU-HUU-HUU-Hu-hu-ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaaa!

[Tax-chick]

[moose07]

Morning TC.
Back in the ‘Hole’ today.

Overcast and warm.

[Tax-chick]

Morning. Hot here, too. It didn’t rain after all: the cats got all irritated for nothing.

“The Merchant of Venice” was a very good effort. Nervous April actually had several lines, which she spoke firmly and with good enunciation. Shylock was well over six feet tall and very snarly, although he didn’t make the most of his big speeches. Bassiano was appropriately tall and handsome, but needed to speak more clearly. Portia was outstanding, and Nerissa was extremely pretty and had a very flattering red dress on.

There were several choral and dance numbers which were very cute and enlivened the audience. Sally gave April some flowers, and I gave her mother a bottle of wine.

[moose07]

“The Merchant of Venice”

Just about remember doing that.
We acted it out in Eng-Lit class at high school. Possibly Year3 ,14.
Don’t off-hand remember the others we did. A big Forgettable blur.

[Tax-chick]

It’s in the English literature course my kids in high school, so I’ve been through it several times in the last few years. I was reminded, last night, that in Shakespeare’s time, the audience would have been drunk.

[Covenantor]

good morning....

...murder in the garden...by the bird bath beneath the twisted arch...whodunit?

[Tax-chick]

That’s a cool garden!

[moose07]

Nice bit of brickwork.
Morning,
I blame the Vicar’s dog. :)

[moose07]

That arch was in Wales. Demolished in 2014. So I read.

[Tax-chick]

Oh, too bad.

[moose07]

Was rather peed at that. Could have included it in my next trip into darkest Wales.