Pluto and its moons, or just an asteroid? (24 Jun 2006)
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Pluto and its moons, or just an asteroid? (24 Jun 2006)
Hello All
Pluto
Has three moons.
Earth has only one, why did we not get more than one.
Pluto is smaller than our moon and yet has three moons. I'm going to complain to the person who made up the Solar System.
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsde ... 29/image/a
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2006 ... _print.jpg
Pluto
Has three moons.
Earth has only one, why did we not get more than one.
Pluto is smaller than our moon and yet has three moons. I'm going to complain to the person who made up the Solar System.
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsde ... 29/image/a
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2006 ... _print.jpg
Harry : Smile and live another day.
Actually, Earth has five or more 'moons', although they're a little exotic. First is the Moon, of course, which is big enough to almost qualify the Earth-Moon system as a double planet.
Then there's 3753 Cruithne, which is an asteroid which is tangled up in a 'horseshoe' orbit with the Earth.
There are three other known asteroids which are also caught up in strange resonant orbits with the Earth (two of which apparently 'corkscrew' around Earth's orbital path).
So we've got lots of strange moons, it seems.![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Then there's 3753 Cruithne, which is an asteroid which is tangled up in a 'horseshoe' orbit with the Earth.
There are three other known asteroids which are also caught up in strange resonant orbits with the Earth (two of which apparently 'corkscrew' around Earth's orbital path).
So we've got lots of strange moons, it seems.
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Don't just stand there, get that other dog!
- orin stepanek
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Double planet; I like that. Interesting subject matter!!
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/ ... lanet.html
Orin
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/ ... lanet.html
Orin
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Very cool Qev, i never knew that before. Looking into it further with the links you gave, I found they aren't technically "moons" of Earth. But they do co-orbit the sun with Earth, making occasional close encounters. Their peculiar orbits do make it seem as though they are orbiting Earth, but in reality Earth's gravity is really only affecting their orbit around the Sun.
And thanks harry, I remember the discovery of extra moons around Pluto but that was the extent of what I heard. It's nice to hear more about something I had interest in but had forgotten all about![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
And thanks harry, I remember the discovery of extra moons around Pluto but that was the extent of what I heard. It's nice to hear more about something I had interest in but had forgotten all about
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Re: Pluto and its moons
I bet my a*s in USA you could file a suit against God for earthlings discrimination, seeking unspecified damages. Then, the jury would probably rule to oblige Him to put extra moons in orbit during next month, so that you could sue again for destructive tides.harry wrote:Pluto
Has three moons.
Earth has only one, why did we not get more than one.
Re: Pluto and its moons
Good ol' US of A.ckam wrote:I bet my a*s in USA you could file a suit against God for earthlings discrimination, seeking unspecified damages. Then, the jury would probably rule to oblige Him to put extra moons in orbit during next month, so that you could sue again for destructive tides.harry wrote:Pluto
Has three moons.
Earth has only one, why did we not get more than one.
Re: Pluto and its moons
Wadsworth,
Welcome to the jungle. To answer the question posed in your signature,
Woman would have to be more complex in mans eyes because we have invented ways to view and attempt to understand the former but the latter can't be seen through the Hubble. (and if we attempt to view the latter through terrestrial telescopes, we get in trouble)
Welcome to the jungle. To answer the question posed in your signature,
Woman would have to be more complex in mans eyes because we have invented ways to view and attempt to understand the former but the latter can't be seen through the Hubble. (and if we attempt to view the latter through terrestrial telescopes, we get in trouble)
- orin stepanek
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Pluto and it's moons or an asteroid with lots of others?
Soon Pluto could be declassified as a planet to an asteroid or Kuiper Belt Object (at the IAU meeting in August I think), or lots of other things could be included as planets - including by one definition our moon and numerous moons of the gas giants.
Anyone going to start a sweep for guessing the number of eventual planets we have?
Nick
P.S. Does anyone remember a BBC childrens tv quiz last Christmas where 10 planets was given as the correct answer? I thought it was still officially 9...
Anyone going to start a sweep for guessing the number of eventual planets we have?
Nick
P.S. Does anyone remember a BBC childrens tv quiz last Christmas where 10 planets was given as the correct answer? I thought it was still officially 9...
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Tradition!
Harry is probably right. Hard to break old habits, even for the IAU.
Personally, I agree with Nick. Pluto should be classified as a KBO, since its characteristics (small, icy, highly eccentric and out of plane orbit) put it solidly in that category. "Planet" should be formally defined to include only rocky or gas giant bodies with near circular, in-plane, primary solar orbits, of sufficient size to be gravitationally compressed into roughly spherical form. Mercury should roughly define the baseline for maximum eccentricity, although size could certainly go lower.
As noted by Nick, under my definition, Earth - Moon might be a double planet. None of the gas giant satellites would qualify, though, because they primarily orbit their (vastly more massive) planets, not the sun. Earth and Moon have an unusual co-orbital relationship because of their relatively similar size, plus the fact that Earth does not have any other satellites of its own.
I would be interested in hearing more opinions from our esteemed community, including definitions of planet that might include Pluto.
Harry is probably right. Hard to break old habits, even for the IAU.
Personally, I agree with Nick. Pluto should be classified as a KBO, since its characteristics (small, icy, highly eccentric and out of plane orbit) put it solidly in that category. "Planet" should be formally defined to include only rocky or gas giant bodies with near circular, in-plane, primary solar orbits, of sufficient size to be gravitationally compressed into roughly spherical form. Mercury should roughly define the baseline for maximum eccentricity, although size could certainly go lower.
As noted by Nick, under my definition, Earth - Moon might be a double planet. None of the gas giant satellites would qualify, though, because they primarily orbit their (vastly more massive) planets, not the sun. Earth and Moon have an unusual co-orbital relationship because of their relatively similar size, plus the fact that Earth does not have any other satellites of its own.
I would be interested in hearing more opinions from our esteemed community, including definitions of planet that might include Pluto.
- Pete
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Nice. Looks like that screenshot was taken in Celestia, a space simulation in which you can fly basically anywhere in the observable universe.BMAONE23 wrote:http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressr ... bit_lg.jpg
This is a great created image of the system.
This is extremely troubling news to me.harry wrote:Why even attempt to understand the manner of woman.
Thats why God put them on Venus
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
- orin stepanek
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That is correctly called "jerking off the IM".harry wrote:And that cyber thing, that everybody talks about.
Do you know that story about onanist diary?
- Mon, today I did it with my right hand. Oh that's great uhhh ahhh...
- Wed, today I did it with my left hand. Damn, that su(ks.
- Fri, today I did it with a woman. That's even worse than my left hand.