Posted on 07/12/2016 8:03:24 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Feels colder than that..
And here are some kitties.
Thanks!
Of course, with no one here, snagging the W000t was just WAYYYY to tempting!
That’s a very pretty family of Squee, for sure!
Did your tomatoes and raspberries finally succumb to the colder nights? I didn’t see you on FB so I couldn’t ask.
I just finished a letter to my grandson in CA; I have written to him once a week since he got into the mission field. He’s been out a little over a year, now, so he has about eleven months to go, maybe less, before he comes home. The missionaries can email home on Mondays, and he doesn’t always do it. Some days, he just has nothing to say; other days, the email is as long as two pieces of string!
How has your weekend been? Were you able to get the strut on the car?
Marmalades are the. best. kittehs!
As I sat down to write to my grandson, I noticed the little storm glass has crystals in the bottom third. I haven’t seen crystals in the thing since last winter. And yes, it’s overcast; we got a few sprinkles of rain, but “maybe tomorrow” we will get a respectable rain.
Of course, it will probably just slick up the streets and the insurance companies will be very happy...
Strut - no. Rain...
Tomatoes - gone and pulled up sitting in a pile awaiting the trailerthing towed by New Redridingthing to transport them to a location where they can become one with the universe. Or bambifood. But it seems bambi only wants to munch on them while they are green and productive.
Raspberries - still struggling along but frosted on the edges. They are valiantly attempting to survive but I won’t cover them up again. Mostly because the next projected dip in overnight temps (into the 20s - Wednesday high 45 low 24..) is forecast to last three nights. I don’t think covering them would do much good at those temps so I’ll let them go to sleep for the winter.
Some may say that the world has too much in the way of greenhouse gases but I believe the world needs more greenhouses.
I have teenagers like that.
J. D. Vance is forty years younger than I am.
But then, he’s only written one book. One fisherman to another, “Just caught the one, eh?”
I liked his book a lot.
I’ve seen him in two interviews so far. One with Charles Murray.
I have the book, now I just need to settle into reading it, instead of the fluff I’ve been putting into my brain.
I also picked up “Killing the Rising Sun”. Allegedly, I like reading real books instead of reading electronically. Let’s see if I’m being honest.
Just in time for Halloween.. ;-)
That’s more activity than the UT saw in the entire two days of the weekend. Except for moi, of course.
My alarm was set for 0300 so I could eat something, take my pills and sort the clothes, but I woke up at 0240, dreaming of setting fire to everything I touched. THAT was indeed alarming enough that I woke up to it.
Welcome back, T-c!
I will have to buy quarters as soon as I get some money, as I think this is the last time I can wash without more of them. *sigh*
I’m not looking forward to this day, because of what it holds in store, but I will make the best of a bad situation. Kittehs. Only the Kittehs will make it a good day...
Have an extra kitteh. I'm going upstairs to roust the Offspring.
Floofy! Thanks.
You’re welcome. Best wishes with the laundry! I did about six loads when we got home yesterday.
Monday. Ugh.
Yes, and double ugh. We have rain. My life is a mass of confusion right now, and I need to vent.
But there are no takers for some reason... :o|
I was at my wife's uncle's surprise 95th birthday party.
No, the surprise was not that he made it to 95, or even that he got around the entire time without cane, walker, or wheel-chair. Needless to say, if I have to live past November 8th, I hope I'm in as good shape at 95 or even 85.
Coolest thing was driving the Remington factory in Ilion NY. Too bad I didn't have time to see if they offered tours.
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