© 2003-2006 David Moles
Chrononautic Log |
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PLANET TEN! (updated)4 o'clock, July 29, 2005Update (30 July): Dr. Brown warns us: “For those speculating that the name proposed is ‘Lila’ based on the web site name I must warn you that that is really just a sentimental dad’s early morning naming of a web site for his three week old daughter and one should not take it too seriously!” Me, I’m plumping for “Planet Lizardo.” From the NYT: 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 new object — as yet unamed — 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.” And it’s even from another dimension. (Not the eighth, though, the third. Its orbit is skewed 44 degrees from the ecliptic.) I suppose they won’t actually call it “Planet Ten,” though. Dr. Brown’s web page says “We have proposed a name to the IAU and will announce it when that name is accepted.” From the page title and URL, I’m guessing that name is “Lila.” Still — where’s my overthruster? |
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Let's hear it for Kuiper Belt objects! This will make my whole "should Pluto be considered a planet?" lecture either useless or even more antagonistic. :) |
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I think we’re just going to have to grandfather in everything over 2000km. I blame Flamsteed and Herschel. As soon as they let in anything past Saturn, the whole neighborhood started to go to hell, if you ask me . . . |
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I say we drop 'em into the Sun and find out. It's a really simple criterion: tail -- comet. No tail -- planet. Pluto'll look good, too, falling in with Charon spiraling around it. (We can't have "planets" that are 44 degrees out of the ecliptic plane. That's crazy talk!) |
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Wouldn’t Neptune, say, make a totally spectacular tail? |
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I dunno... I guess anything in the Outer Solar System is behind the snow line, and the volatiles should boil off in the Inner Solar System. But I don't know how long that takes. Is there a planetary scientist in the audience? My impression of these hot jupiters is that yeah, they're boiling, but the gravitational well is so deep that it takes a long time. Giant planets just have a lot more gravity, they might be able to hang onto their volatile elements well inside of the Earth's orbit. So, I don't know how much of tail you can really expect. Besides... Pluto doesn't weight very much, whereas it's going to take some pretty heavy artillery to move Neptune. Your overthruster just isn't gonna cut it.
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Sky & Telescope article.
Man, that is so totally going to screw up the astrologer's charts.