It's another world ... but is it our 10th planet?

The Australian ^ | 3/15/04 | Louise Milligan

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

SCIENTISTS have found a new world orbiting the solar system – more than 3 billion kilometres further away from the Sun than Pluto and 40 years away from Earth in a space shuttle.

NASA is expected to announce today the discovery of the space object, which some experts believe could be a new planet.

It is provisionally known as Sedna, after the Inuit goddess of the sea.

The discovery of Sedna – 10 billion kilometres from Earth – is a testament to the new generation of high-powered telescopes.

Measurements suggest Sedna's diameter is almost 2000km – the biggest find in the solar system since Pluto was discovered 74 years ago. It is believed to be made of ice and rock, and is slightly smaller than Pluto.

The find will reignite the debate over what constitutes a planet. Some scientists claim even Pluto is too small to count as one.

According to astronomer Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology, who discovered Sedna, there could be many other new worlds orbiting the Sun and waiting to be discovered.

"Sedna is very big, and much further out than previous discoveries," he said. "I'm pretty sure there are other large bodies up there too."

But physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies, of Sydney's Macquarie University, said it was folly to describe Sedna as a planet. "It's fun, it's exciting, but let's keep it in proportion," Professor Davies said yesterday.

He said scientists had known for "a decade or so the solar system does not come to an abrupt halt" and there were a number of "planetessimals" or little planets, like Sedna.

[Savage Beast]

That would probably be better. I think Zecchariah's going to have the last laugh.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, I'd not heard about this KBO. For some reason, there's a lot of hostility among a small minority regarding the status of Pluto. Gosh, I'll be it has nothing to do with the fact that Pluto was discovered by an American...

[Knuckle Sandwich Combo]

Zecharia Sitchin's books, beginning with The 12th Planet (1976) and even more so in Genesis Revisited and The Cosmic Code, postulated that beings known as the Anunnaki came to Earth some 450,000 years ago from the planet Nibiru – a member of our own solar system whose great orbit brings it to our part of the heavens once every 3,600 years.

Zecharia Sitchin's Website

[SunkenCiv]

Adding another 3 billion miles out for this newly discoverd body of Sedna basically doubles the radius out to the edge of the solar system. -- xp38

It's 3 billion KM, which is a good deal less than 3 billion miles.

New world found far beyond Pluto
by Dr David Whitehouse
Friday, 20 February, 2004

Preliminary observations suggest it may be up to 1,800km across, making it the largest body other than a true planet to be discovered orbiting our star... 2004 DW was found by California Institute of Technology astronomers Chad Trujillo and Mike Brown, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University - the same team that discovered Quaoar in 2002. Quaoar is 1,000 to 1,400km across. The new body is estimated to be somewhere between 840 and 1,800km... It has an orbit that is much larger than Pluto's, being, on average, 2.4bn km further out... 2004 DW could be a type of object called a Plutino. Such objects have an orbit related to Pluto's path around the Sun. Looking back in their archives, astronomers now realise they picked up the new object in images taken in 2002 but did not realise it at the time.

The illustration in the article doesn't show much of a difference in the orbits, and has this object and Pluto cross in two places.

[CMOTB]

I'm sorry but thats not what Kirk was upset about, he was upset when Bones wanted to send in a probe.

[xp38]

The discovery of Sedna – 10 billion kilometres from Earth – is a testament to the new generation of high-powered telescopes.

10 billion kilometers is approximately 6 billion miles. Is that a typo in the article?

[Denver Ditdat]

It's pronounced 'yur - ah - nus'

Urinous? Named by a You're-a-peein' from Yurrup, perhaps?

[Latest Samurai]

That was not a startrek episode, it was a Startrek Joke:

What does Startrek have in common with toilet paper?

ANSWER: They both circle Uranus looking for Klingons.

[Latest Samurai]

"I think we should call it ISIS"

I think it should be called "Icey".

[HP8753]

Oh,Look....a baby comet...just waiting for a gravitational nudge to come streaking toward the earth. ;-)

[Knuckle Sandwich Combo]

Anut goddess across the sea, S edna ...

[GretchenEE]

Stinking choice of a provisional name (how many chances does it have NOT to stick?).

Wonder how long till some idiot starts a cult to worship the thing.

America, in God we trust?

[7MMmag]

Earth first! We'll mine the other planets, asteriods, & "kuipier belt objects" later.
Ooort cloud junk wa-aay later!

[SunkenCiv]

The distance from Earth to any other body in orbit around the Sun (or in orbit around such an object) varies depending on where the Sun is in relation to both. Sometimes Jupiter is about 600 million miles away, sometimes about 400 million.

This new object is on a tremendously eccentric orbit, so it's quite far away right now.

Similarly, Pluto is an average distance from the Sun (radius) of 5,913,520,000 km, making the diameter, hmm, something like 11 billion km (because at some point it's closer to the Sun than Neptune and more eccentric).

Hope that helps.

[solitas]

Brilliant! One more location where someone will want to send a rover.

[solitas]

Has anyone seen a set of orbital elements for this thing yet?

[FreedomCalls]

[Don Joe]

As I understand it, Chris Talk is no longer among our kosher fellowship.

Oh, my. The things one misses when one shakes the dust off one's sandals.

And how did the annoying Mr. Talk manage to get himself unexisted? (And why, oh why, didn't he do it sooner? :)

[Quix]

I don't know re reasons for such.

I do know this . . . per my perspective . . .

IF one were rating people on HAUGHTY, ARROGANT, CHURLISH, CHEEKY, ETC. . . .

I'd likely be inclined to rate you in the 93-99% range and him in the 5-12% range.

I wonder whom Christ would be most inclined to shake HIS sandles off against?

[CurlyDave]

I don't think they've named anything after Bacchus yet.

I was kind of rooting for Priapus.