Posted on 07/29/2005 3:35:26 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
Add a 10th planet to the solar system - or possibly subtract one.
Astronomers announced today that they have found a lump of rock and ice that is larger than Pluto and the farthest known object in the solar system. The discovery will likely rekindle debate over the definition of "planet" and whether Pluto should still be regarded as one.
The new object - as yet unnamed - is currently 9 billion miles away from the Sun, or about three times Pluto's current distance from the Sun. But its 560-year orbit also brings it as close as 3.3 billion miles. Pluto's elliptical orbit ranges between 2.7 billion and 4.6 billion miles.
The astronomers do not have an exact size for the new planet, but its brightness and distance tell them that it is at least as large as Pluto.
"It is guaranteed bigger than Pluto," said Michael E. Brown, a professor of planetary astronomy at Caltech, who led the team that made the discovery. "Even if it were 100 percent reflective, it would be larger than Pluto. It can't be more than 100 percent reflective."
The discovery was made Jan. 8 using a 48-inch telescope at Palomar Observatory. The astronomers, however, were not able to see it using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which looks at infrared light. That means the planet is less than 1,800 miles in diameter.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
This topic is the winner. :')
NASA Funded Scientists Discover Tenth Planet
NASA.gov | 7.29.05 | Jane Platt
Posted on 07/29/2005 6:21:26 PM PDT by gopwinsin04
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453550/posts
Distant object found orbiting Sun (Planet X aka 'Nibiru' Found by American Astronomers)
BBC | July 29, 2005 | Dr David Whitehouse
Posted on 07/29/2005 10:11:24 PM PDT by ThoreauHD
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453628/posts
Astronomers claim discovery of 10th planet in solar system
Outlook | July 30,2005 | AFP
Posted on 07/30/2005 12:09:55 AM PDT by Srirangan
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453658/posts
New Planet Discovered Beyond Pluto
the Proctoscope | 07/30/2005 | donprocto
Posted on 07/30/2005 4:26:35 AM PDT by donprocto
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1453688/posts
Planet or Not, Pluto Now Has Far-Out Rival
New York Times | July 30, 2005 | KENNETH CHANG and DENNIS OVERBYE
Posted on 07/30/2005 4:50:22 AM PDT by infocats
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453694/posts
Pluto's diameter is 2274 km. Despite continual, years-long anti-American efforts to downgrade Pluto (it was discovered by a US observer) from planetary status, Pluto remains a planet.
Until now, the next smallest (known) body in orbit around the Sun was 1800 km, or half the volume of Pluto.
Small Bodies in the Solar System
http://www.nineplanets.org/smallbodies.html
Pluto (and Charon)
http://www.nineplanets.org/pluto.html
New planet? That's Galactus! We're done for, unless Johnny can get the Ultimate Nullifier to Dr. Richards...
Tenth Planet Discovered
07.29.05
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/newplanet-072905-images.html
2003 EL61
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/2003EL61/
What about the moon of 2003 EL61?
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/2003EL61/#moon
Sedna
http://www.nineplanets.org/sedna.html
"Sedna is not even officially a planet at all. That classification decision is up to the IAU and they are not likely to decide to do so."
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NexRemote Control Software
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I think Pluto should be "grandfathered" in as a planet, with all the attendant privileges afforded to such rank. It did just celebrate its 75 anniversary, after all.
Yup, it's 75th anniversary as a known planet. :')
The Nine Planets (both mirror sites I think) regarding the searches for Planets X.
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/hypo.html#planetx
Another short-lived trans-Neptunian suspect was reported on April 22 1930 by R.M. Stewart in Ottawa, Canada -- it was reported from plates taken in 1924. Crommelin computed an orbit (dist 39.82 a.u., asc node 280.49 deg, inclination 49.7 deg!). Tombaugh searched for the "Ottawa object" without finding it. Several other searches were made, but nothing was ever found.
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/hypothet.htm#planetx
During this period, other astronomers searched for additional planets. Another short-lived trans-Neptunian suspect was reported on April 22, 1930 by R.M. Stewart in Ottawa, Canada. It was reported from plates taken in 1924. Crommelin computed an orbit with a distance of 39.82 AU, an ascending node of 280.49°, and an inclination 49.7°. Tombaugh searched for the "Ottawa object" without finding it. Several other searches were made, but nothing was ever found.
If it might not really be a planet, and it's closest neighbor is Mickey Mouse's dog(?), then it should be named "Eisner" after Disney's boss, who might be an executive.
http://www.nineplanets.org/hypo.html#planetx
Another short-lived trans-Neptunian suspect was reported on April 22 1930 by R.M. Stewart in Ottawa, Canada -- it was reported from plates taken in 1924. Crommelin computed an orbit (dist 39.82 a.u., asc node 280.49 deg, inclination 49.7 deg!). Tombaugh searched for the "Ottawa object" without finding it. Several other searches were made, but nothing was ever found.
just a ping to this topic.
http://www.nineplanets.org/hypo.html#planetx
[after his discovery of Pluto, astronomer Clyde] Tombaugh continued his search another 13 years, and examined the sky from the north celestial pole to 50 deg. south declination, down to magnitude 16-17, sometimes even 18. Tombaugh examined some 90 million images of some 30 million stars over more than 30,000 square degrees on the sky. He found one new globular cluster, 5 new open star clusters, one new supercluster of 1800 galaxies and several new small galaxy clusters, one new comet, about 775 new asteroids -- but no new planet except Pluto. Tombaugh concluded that no unknown planet brighter than magnitude 16.5 did exist -- only a planet in an almost polar orbit and situated near the south celestial pole could have escaped his detection. He could have picked up a Neptune-sized planet at seven times the distance of Pluto, or a Pluto-sized planet out to 60 a.u.
regarding Sedna:
It's another world ... but is it our 10th planet?
The Australian | 3/15/04 | Louise Milligan
Posted on 03/14/2004 11:46:12 AM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1097532/posts
additional links from Phil Plait's website:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7751
http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn7751
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7751&print=true
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4726733.stm
http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1560_1.asp
http://skyandtelescope.com/printable/news/article_1563.asp
http://skyandtelescope.com/mm_images/8435.jpg
http://skyandtelescope.com/mm_images/8436.jpg
If that weren't enough, a second big Kuiper Belt discovery also made news the same day: 2003 EL61. A team of astronomers at the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain reported their discovery (details here) to the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It had been spotted by Brown and his team more than a year ago, but, as Brown notes on his website for this object, "There is no question that the Spanish group is rightly credited with discovery. We could have announced the object earlier, but we took a chance that no one else would find it while we were awaiting our observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope. We were wrong!"
Far-out worlds, just waiting to be found
New Scientist | 23 July 2005 (issue date) | Stuart Clark
Posted on 07/20/2005 10:54:18 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1447339/posts
I'll guess that the name submitted (or should have been submitted) is Juno.
1. It is consistent with Roman pantheon names (daughter of Saturn and wife/sister of Jupiter; sister also of Neptune and Pluto; mother of Mars)
2. The etymology of the name fits nicely as it is the "junior" planet.
3. A female goddess name is PC.
Just my two cents.
from the discoverer of 2003 UB313, the 10th planet:
http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/index.html
"From now on, everyone should ignore the distracting debates of the scientists, and planets in our solar system should be defined not by some attempt at forcing a scientific definition on a thousands-of-years-old cultural term, but by simply embracing culture. Pluto is a planet because culture says it is."
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