King Tutankhamun Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 LOS ANGELES -- It's icy, rocky and bigger than Pluto. And according to scientists who found it orbiting the sun, it's the newest planet on our solar system's block. The planet _ the farthest-known object in the solar system _ is currently 9 billion miles away from the sun, or about three times Pluto's current distance from the sun."This is the first object to be confirmed to be larger than Pluto in the outer solar system," Michael Brown, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology, said Friday in a telephone briefing announcing the discovery.Brown labeled the object as a 10th planet, but there are scientists who dispute the classification of Pluto as such.Astronomers do not know the new planet's exact size, but its brightness shows that it is at least as large as Pluto and could be up to 1 1/2 times bigger. The research was funded by NASA.Brown has submitted a name for the new planet to the International Astronomical Union, which has yet to act on the proposal, but he did not release the proposed name Friday.The briefing was hastily arranged after Brown received word that a secure Web site containing the discovery was hacked and the hacker threatened to release the information.Brown and colleagues Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory and David Rabinowitz of Yale University first photographed the object in 2003 using a 48-inch telescope at the Palomar Observatory.But it was so far away that its motion was not detected until data was analyzed again this past January. It will take at least six months before astronomers can determine its exact size.It has taken scientists this long to find the planet because its orbit is at an angle compared to the orbits of most planets. The new planet is rocky and icy, similar to Pluto, Brown said.Alan Stern of the Southwestern Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., said he was not surprised by the discovery since other objects around the size of Pluto have been found in the Kuiper belt, a disc of icy debris beyond the orbit of Neptune.What's unique about the latest finding is that the object appears to be bigger than Pluto, he said."Unless they've made a grave mistake, this is for real," said Stern, who had no role in the discovery.Picture of the new planet: (circled)Official NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solars...905-images.htmlNeat, eah? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProgramZeta Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 AFAIK, this isn't "planet X", but another body in our solar system.I honestly don't think that we know with exact certainty that this orbits the sun - could be something else passing by? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkAngelBGE Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 Nice one. Wow, 3 times the distance of Pluto, now we won't reach that anyway anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clodhopper Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 Yeah, but what will the discovery of a 10th do for us? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tutankhamun Posted July 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 It probably won't affect you personally but it is a new advance in our knowledge of the universe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clodhopper Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 Of course... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paal_101 Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 Very very cool There is more out there to learn and comprehend then we will ever have time for And the whole time it was lurking out there while astronmers were taking pictures of galaxies billions of light years away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeOptimist Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 This will certainly re-kindle the debate about the legitimacy of Pluto as a 'real' planet; especially compared to Sedna, Quaoar, and the like.Here's the Wikipedia article about the object (2003 UB313): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_UB313 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Argalius Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 3 times the distance as pluto... I wonder how long it takes to circle around the sun then, 5000 years? Man that would be a long summer (as far as you can call it a summer...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yiuel Posted July 31, 2005 Report Share Posted July 31, 2005 I am rather open when we come to planets. To me, a planet would be :A celestial body that do not bear any thermonuclear reaction (as opposed to star) orbits a celestial body that bears such thermonuclear reaction (as opposed to moons), and that has enough gravity to sphericalize itself (as opposed to asteroîdes).Ceres, Sedna and Quaoar (and Pluto) are clearly planets in this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caesar Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Hundreds of years ago people believed that there was a large planet called Vulcan on the edge of our solar system. That idea was used by the creators of Star Trek. I guess they (both the guys 400 years ago and the creators of Star Trek) were right after all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGE Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Star Trek might have even more hidden truths. lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeOptimist Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Hundreds of years ago people believed that there was a large planet called Vulcan on the edge of our solar system.←You're pretty close According to Wikipedia, Vulcan was believed to be a small planet orbiting between Mercury and the Sun.Semi-OT: It's struck me as humorous that it's likely more technology, theories, ideas, etc. have been developed based on things that were in episodes of Star Trek than anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SGE Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 A while ago I saw on a documentary about future technologies, that Star Wars and Star Treck actually inspire scientists, therefore they seek the make such technologies true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uppy Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 That's cool! Now they are going to have to rewrite the science books! Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCobra1 Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Oh no! I hope I don't have to go back to 1st grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natedog Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Here is an article on the possible names for the new planet http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn7811I've also heard, that we may have even up to 23 planets...which would be insane! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tutankhamun Posted August 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Interesting names, but where is planet $D-Money$ on the list? 23 would be extreme! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natedog Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 I don't know...maybe $D-Money$ is too good for that tenth planet. They probably were considering renaming one of the more awesome planets... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yiuel Posted August 12, 2005 Report Share Posted August 12, 2005 If we count along the guideline I have given, 23 planets is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuel Marino Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Science Fiction is called this way because of its peculiar approach to scientific topics. In Sci-Fi movies and books actual and imagined science mix together to create the scientific background of the stories.But the imagined science is never absurd cause it meets with actual science so creating a somewhat realistic environment.This means that Sci-Fi can really be a "guide" for scientists... just remember Star Trek communicator that was imagined science in the tv series period, but that now is actual science (cellular phones). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mythos_Ruler Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 Well, the difference there, is that the "Starfleet Communicator" is supposed to send "subspace" signals something like 1 million km away. For one thing, we have no idea how to send voice data at superluminal speeds, and we have yet to make a cell phone with a 1 million km range. Both things we'd need to accomplish if we were to properly replicate the Starfleet Communicator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuel Marino Posted August 22, 2005 Report Share Posted August 22, 2005 1 million km??? heh fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.