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Astronomers Find a New Planet in Solar System
The New York Times ^ | 7/29/05 | KENNETH CHANG

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: astronomy; p4; p5; planetx; pluto; solarsystem; space; xplanets
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To: Right Wing Professor

Enough of this nonsense! Pluto should be grandfathered-in to the solar system and we should ignore all these newfangled bodies until Disney names a cartoon character after them and they rise to a position worthy of our respect.


21 posted on 07/29/2005 3:49:46 PM PDT by fat city (Julius Rosenberg's soviet code name was "Liberal")
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To: tortoise

Aha! So there is something unseemly going on in the Ivory Tower.


22 posted on 07/29/2005 3:49:46 PM PDT by RightWhale (Substance is essentially the relationship of accidents to itself)
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To: Right Wing Professor

They're coming, and they want our air.

23 posted on 07/29/2005 3:50:05 PM PDT by Romish_Papist (Papist. Veteran. American. Conservative. Tattooed. Pierced. Questions?)
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To: tortoise

Does that make them the ambiguously gay duo?


24 posted on 07/29/2005 3:50:28 PM PDT by ovrtaxt
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To: Right Wing Professor
Add a 10th planet to the solar system - or possibly subtract one

The astronomers giveth and the astronomers taketh away.

25 posted on 07/29/2005 3:50:44 PM PDT by softwarecreator (Facts are to liberals as holy water is to vampires)
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To: Right Wing Professor

it's Utopia. Send all leftists there.


26 posted on 07/29/2005 3:52:49 PM PDT by the invisib1e hand (In Honor of Terri Schiavo. *check my FReeppage for the link* Let it load and have the sound on.)
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To: Right Wing Professor

Who cares what it will be called, can we mine it for Naquada?


27 posted on 07/29/2005 3:52:52 PM PDT by Better Dead Than Red (Davis College Republicans (Best Party on Campus))
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To: tortoise

Please provide links to news -- space.com isn't reporting 3


28 posted on 07/29/2005 3:52:53 PM PDT by ZGuy
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To: thoughtomator
Let's call it "Wlar", which stands for "Where Liberals Are Right".

So you're one of those who believe it's a rather small planet?

29 posted on 07/29/2005 3:53:03 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
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To: Romish_Papist

Call it "Naboo", in honor of Star Wars. (Why not add a little levity to the mix?!)


30 posted on 07/29/2005 3:53:35 PM PDT by Ciexyz (Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
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To: Right Wing Professor

Cerberus.


31 posted on 07/29/2005 3:54:41 PM PDT by mewzilla (Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist. John Adams)
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To: ZGuy
How about Urectum?

Urectum?!!! U damned near killed 'em!

32 posted on 07/29/2005 3:55:34 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (This tagline is slated for destruction to make way for a new Hyperspace bypass.)
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To: RightWhale
Aha! So there is something unseemly going on in the Ivory Tower.

Heh, actually yes. There has been some testiness on the astronomy lists, and a number of folks who are rather displeased with the behavior of Brown's group. Brown is trying to take control of the situation, including taking the discovery claim away from the Spanish amateur. Most of the other folks are having none of it since Brown did not catalog the objects in accordance with the rules he and all the other research groups are nominally playing by. From everyone else's perspective, if he got burned he deserved it.

Even astronomy is not immune from petty politics. :-)

33 posted on 07/29/2005 3:59:41 PM PDT by tortoise (All these moments lost in time, like tears in the rain.)
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To: kingu
Three? Ghads, I caught only two of them. 2003EL61 and 2003EL331 (Lila) -- what is the third?

The third is at the same distance as 2003 EL61, and probably modestly larger. It was last designated as 2005FY9 if I remember correctly. It has kind of fallen through the cracks, between the Spanish amateur scooping 2003 EL61 and 2003 UB313 being a really intriguing object.

The Spanish amateur discovering 2003 EL61 is great PR for astronomy.

34 posted on 07/29/2005 4:03:59 PM PDT by tortoise (All these moments lost in time, like tears in the rain.)
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To: tortoise
Even astronomy is not immune from petty politics. :-)

I'd hate to think we chemists were unusual :-)

35 posted on 07/29/2005 4:04:37 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
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To: tortoise
The Spanish amateur discovering 2003 EL61 is great PR for astronomy.

What sort of telescope does he have?

36 posted on 07/29/2005 4:05:31 PM PDT by Right Wing Professor
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To: tortoise

It gives the bourgeoise class a bad name. :)


37 posted on 07/29/2005 4:06:03 PM PDT by RightWhale (Substance is essentially the relationship of accidents to itself)
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To: Right Wing Professor
Why did I know this was coming?

Ignorance triumphs again? This story first appeared two days ago, and if memory serves me right, its orbit does not meet the requirements of the definition of a planet.

38 posted on 07/29/2005 4:07:07 PM PDT by Publius6961 (Liberal level playing field: If the Islamics win we are their slaves..if we win they are our equals.)
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To: ZGuy
Please provide links to news -- space.com isn't reporting 3

I'm actually on the minor planet mailing lists where this stuff happened. Brown published his data for 2003 EL61 plus the data for two additional massive KBOs, including the planet-sized 2003 UB313. Space.com only gets filtered bits and pieces of the raw stream, like most news aggregators.

39 posted on 07/29/2005 4:09:21 PM PDT by tortoise (All these moments lost in time, like tears in the rain.)
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To: Right Wing Professor
Name that planet, FReepers!

For those that recognize the origin of my screen name, I am obviously required to propose

Kobold

 

40 posted on 07/29/2005 4:10:24 PM PDT by Phsstpok (There are lies, damned lies, statistics and presentation graphics, in descending order of truth)
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