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Topic: Pluto no longer a "planet" (Read 2068 times) previous topic - next topic

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Has anybody else been following this?
I know there are other astronomy buffs on this message board. We had a good astronomy thread over at Cougarnuts before it went through its changes.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060824/D8JMT3I00.html

The new definition of a planet:
"a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

Due to its overlapping orbit with Neptune, Pluto has now been elimiated from the list. This has been an ongoing debate for a long time. Pluto is now considered a "dwarf planet."

Thoughts?
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Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #1 –
I liked what they came up with, the whole 8 "classic planet" thing, "plutons", etc..

EDIT: Oops, looks like they went and did something different than what I had read about the other day.

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Bird351
it sounds like it's in the process of being shot down by astronomers.


That's the amazing thing. This is getting a LOT of attention in the science community. Hell, I watched a one-hour special on The Science Channel a few weeks ago on this exact subject!
I read that there was yelling and excessive arguing in some of the meetings this week. :bricks1:
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Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #3 –
I just laugh at the thought of 2500 people aurgeing over a ball or ice and rock a million miles away, when shiznit is happening here that should be of the utmost importance!

Talk about wasted effort.

Daniel
1987 Cougar XR7 5.0 SOLD
1992 Ranger 4.0
2018 Hyundai Elantra
2019 Ram Rebel

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #4 –
Quote from: xr7cat
I just laugh at the thought of 2500 people aurgeing over a ball or ice and rock a million miles away, when shiznit is happening here that should be of the utmost importance!

Talk about wasted effort.

Daniel


You mean kinda like a bunch of guys sitting around talking on a forum..? :p

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #5 –
Quote
I just laugh at the thought of 2500 people aurgeing over a ball or ice and rock a million miles away


Actually it's a lot further away than a million miles:

"Pluto's average distance is 39.44 AU, but it ranges from 29.7 to 49.3 AU (1 AU is defined to be the average distance between the Earth and the Sun and equals 149 million kilometers or 93 million miles)." - Hayden Planetarium

So there. :flame:

Pluto and its satellite, Charon, are technically binary planets because their sizes are so similar. That's why Luna is called a moon and Terra is called a planet--because there is a vast difference in size between them. Personally I think the scientists should be evaluating the size/mass relationships between bodies, rather than the body sizes themselves. Makes more sense to me.

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #6 –
Well, since were kind of on the subject.

Anyone here have a Meade ETX125 or LX90 series scope?
I have been looking at buying one of them for a while now, but can't decide.

Brent
1985 Mercury Cougar XR-7 - 5-speed 
One of 1,246 built

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #8 –
what ever happened to the 10th plannet they found and assigned a number type name to. i havent heard anything about it senc like 2 or more months ago? guess thats the 9th plannet now...?

im not conserned about this as much as the mars mission thats sopposed to happen eventualy. i just hope im alive to see it. i hate how this stuff takes so long, im extreamly  impatient.

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #9 –
2003 UB313 or whatever it was called (unofficially named Xena.. *pewk*) will probably never be a planet if Pluto is not also kept/made one as well. It may be slightly bigger than Pluto, but the scientists behind this whole Pluto-demotion thing want all that stuff classified as minor planets or dwarf planets or whatever.. as long as they're not called planets.

I was content with the original revision they announced a week or two ago, that would've boosted the current planet count to 12 or whatever.

As a side note, I think this can only harm science right now. I'm sure there are yokels out there who are pointing to things like this and using it as more ammunition to try to undermine science to further their religious agendas. "Hay maw, dey can't evin figgur out wut a planit iz.."

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #10 –
Quote from: BCA
Well, since were kind of on the subject.

Anyone here have a Meade ETX125 or LX90 series scope?
I have been looking at buying one of them for a while now, but can't decide.

Brent


I've heard good things about Meade instruments.
I have a Bushnell reflector with a 3" primary mirror. While it is somewhat cheap, it gets the job done. I can *almost* see the Cassini Division on Saturn's rings. :)
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Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #11 –
I don't think Pluto cares whether it's a planet or not.  I guess we'll have to change the old mnemonic to "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nothing."

BCA - I own a Meade 4504 4.5" Newtonian reflector telescope.  It has the Star Finder computer on it.  If you are new to scopes or have limited familiarity with the night sky, I would definitely recommend you get a scope with AutoStar or Starfinder.  They help a lot when you are trying to figure out where everything is and what exactly you are looking at up there.
-Jim
1987 Cougar LS 5.0

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #12 –
Quote from: jkirchman
I don't think Pluto cares whether it's a planet or not.  I guess we'll have to change the old mnemonic to "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nothing."

BCA - I own a Meade 4504 4.5" Newtonian reflector telescope.  It has the Star Finder computer on it.  If you are new to scopes or have limited familiarity with the night sky, I would definitely recommend you get a scope with AutoStar or Starfinder.  They help a lot when you are trying to figure out where everything is and what exactly you are looking at up there.


Jim,

I have a small 60mm starter scope but have been wanting to get a "go-to" scope for a several years now. Especially now that my son who just tuned 5 this week loves to look through it too.
I know that an ETX125 is far superior to what I have now but if I will be satisfied a year from now and wished I had spent the extra money and gotten the 8" LX90.

Brent
1985 Mercury Cougar XR-7 - 5-speed 
One of 1,246 built

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #13 –
An 8" primary would be awesome. I'm basically looking at the sky through a coffee stirrer with my instrument.
If I focus it on a planet, it's out of the viewfinder within 10 seconds due to the rotation of the Earth.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

Pluto no longer a "planet"

Reply #14 –
i never really thought pluto was much of a planent anyway. very stange orbit, not in a classical orbital location, and smaller than our own moon, with alot of debris in its orbital path.. it's always kinda of been like the red headed step children of the real planents anyway. and it stops all this "new 6th planet from the sun" . its a big asteroid.. deal with it.