Kuiper Belt Object Bigger than Pluto. Whoops!

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2005-07-30 03:33am

http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1560_1.asp

So, what does this do to our 'Nine Planets' bit?

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2005-07-30 03:35am

With Picture!

Zed Snardbody · Post by **Zed Snardbody** » 2005-07-30 03:44am

That leaves us with only one option.

To save astrology, we need a death star rissing into capricorn to destroy this object.

Grandmaster Jogurt · Post by **Grandmaster Jogurt** » 2005-07-30 03:45am

I'm almost more interested in the other one they found, the one with the satellite. These are both amazing finds.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-07-30 03:59am

I already posted this yesterday:

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?t=74242

It's now being hailed as the tenth planet. Space.com has a breaking news story (they weren't so enthusiastic yesterday).

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2005-07-30 04:06am

If this object doesn't get officaly listed as a planet, Pluto needs to be officaly delisted.

Mange · Post by **Mange** » 2005-07-30 04:06am

Oh, I'm sorry, it wasn't the same object.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2005-07-30 05:03am

Zed Snardbody wrote:That leaves us with only one option.

To save astrology, we need a death star rissing into capricorn to destroy this object.

So fucking sigged you won't believe it!

Erik von Nein · Post by **Erik von Nein** » 2005-07-30 05:06am

I hope we get bumped up to ten planets. Ten has such a nice roundness to it.

So, what should we name it? "OSIBA"? Our Solar System is Bad Ass?

VT-16 · Post by **VT-16** » 2005-07-30 05:09am

Lord Zentei in another thread wrote:Pfft. Pluto is a honorary planet. That won't change. Sedna and this new pipsqueek can get bent.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2005-07-30 09:02am

It's almost as big as Mercury. If they were to go by size limits on declaring what are planets and what are not, then it would have to be between 2,600 kilometers and 3,000 kilometers in diameter.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-07-30 10:36am

Zed Snardbody wrote:That leaves us with only one option.

To save astrology, we need a death star rissing into capricorn to destroy this object.

It would probably be easier just to comandeer the one that's already orbiting Saturn.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2005-07-30 11:07am

Mange the Swede wrote:Oh, I'm sorry, it wasn't the same object.

That's right. This is an entirely different beast.

Fairly impressive. It will only heap on more fuel for the flames at the IAU.

Either Pluto will be officially redesignated as a Kuiper Belt Object (much more likely now, since we have putative proof that Pluto is nothing special for a denizen of the Kuiper Belt.) Or it will remain a planet out of tradition, or we'll have a solar system with fifty planets.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2005-07-30 11:16am

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:
Mange the Swede wrote:Oh, I'm sorry, it wasn't the same object.
That's right. This is an entirely different beast.

Fairly impressive. It will only heap on more fuel for the flames at the IAU.

Either Pluto will be officially redesignated as a Kuiper Belt Object (much more likely now, since we have putative proof that Pluto is nothing special for a denizen of the Kuiper Belt.) Or it will remain a planet out of tradition, or we'll have a solar system with fifty planets.

I like the last option. That swells our solar system's dick to five times its current size; nobody else will be able to compete with us in a pissing contest!

Well...maybe not But either way, a fifty-planet solar system is damned cool!

Vanas · Post by **Vanas** » 2005-07-30 12:59pm

Well, as least it looks like it's vageuly normal, unlike any of Saturn's Freak Show.

I think we can leave Pluto as a planet though, this one is alot further away, so we can call it smaller through perspective.
Name wise, I plump for Nyx, as it's really, really dark out yonder. Chances are there's already something with that name, but I like it anyway.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-07-30 01:14pm

ArmorPierce wrote:It's almost as big as Mercury. If they were to go by size limits on declaring what are planets and what are not, then it would have to be between 2,600 kilometers and 3,000 kilometers in diameter.

The only reason Mercury is considered a planet is that it's not orbiting something else. There must be moons as big as/bigger than that baby. I think neither Pluto nor Mercury should officially be planets.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2005-07-30 01:15pm

Vanas wrote:Well, as least it looks like it's vageuly normal, unlike any of Saturn's Freak Show.

I think we can leave Pluto as a planet though, this one is alot further away, so we can call it smaller through perspective.
Name wise, I plump for Nyx, as it's really, really dark out yonder. Chances are there's already something with that name, but I like it anyway.

But what happens when we stumble on our first Mars-sized Kuiper Belt Objects that some computer models predict are out there?

NapoleonGH · Post by **NapoleonGH** » 2005-07-30 01:35pm

We ignore them and pretend they dont exist because that would make every reference to "9 planets" have to be changed?

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-07-30 02:28pm

Zed Snardbody wrote:That leaves us with only one option.

To save astrology, we need a death star rissing into capricorn to destroy this object.

Only idiots take astrology seriously anyway. I'll enjoy watching them writhe under this.

So that's, what? Three new "10th planets" we have now? This Planet X thing is getting to be a popular competition for space rocks.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2005-07-30 04:29pm

Here's the Beeb's article on it:

Astronomers in the United States have announced the discovery of the 10th planet to orbit our Sun.

The largest object found in our Solar System since Neptune was discovered in 1846, it was first seen in 2003 but has only now been confirmed as a planet.

Designated 2003 UB313, it is about 3,000km across, a world of rock and ice and somewhat larger than Pluto.

Scientists say it is three times as far away as Pluto, in an orbit at an angle to the orbits of the other planets.

Astronomers think that at some point in its history, Neptune likely flung it into its highly-inclined 44-degree orbit.

Graphic of 2003 UB313 in relation to other planets and Sun

It is currently 97 Earth-Sun distances away - more than twice Pluto's average distance from the Sun.

Bigger than Pluto

Its discoverers are Michael Brown of Caltech, Chad Trujillo of the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz of Yale University.

David Rabinowitz told the BBC News website: "It has been a remarkable day and a remarkable year. 2003 UB313 is probably larger than Pluto. It is fainter than Pluto, but three times farther away.

"Brought to the same distance from the Sun as Pluto, it would be brighter. So today, the world knows that Pluto is not unique. There are other Plutos, just farther out in the Solar System where they are a little harder to find."

It was picked up using the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory and the 8m Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea.

Slow mover

Chad Trujillo told the BBC News website: "I feel extremely lucky to be part of a discovery as exciting as this. It's not every day that you find something Pluto-sized or larger!"

"The spectra that we took at the Gemini Observatory are particularly interesting because it shows that the surface of 2003 UB313 is very similar to that of Pluto."

The object was first observed on 21 October 2003, but the team did not see it move in the sky until looking at the same area 15 months later on 8 January 2005.

The researchers say they tried looking for it with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is sensitive to heat radiation, but failed to detect it.

This gives them an upper limit of its size of 3,000 km, they say. The lower limit still makes it larger than Pluto.

The discovery of 2003 UB313 comes just after the announcement of the finding of 2003 EL61, which appears to be a little smaller than Pluto.

I say we call in Nibiru.

NapoleonGH · Post by **NapoleonGH** » 2005-07-30 04:34pm

Bah it should be named Minerva or maybe Hestia.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2005-07-30 04:37pm

We should call it Persephone.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-07-30 04:44pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
Zed Snardbody wrote:That leaves us with only one option.

To save astrology, we need a death star rissing into capricorn to destroy this object.
Only idiots take astrology seriously anyway. I'll enjoy watching them writhe under this.

So that's, what? Three new "10th planets" we have now? This Planet X thing is getting to be a popular competition for space rocks.

But just think of all the shaving cream we'll be able to make!

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-07-30 04:58pm

I second fgalkin's nominee: Persephone. Banished to the underworld.

Vanas · Post by **Vanas** » 2005-07-30 05:07pm

Wasn't that the name of the 10th planet in Rama? I think it was Rama. Good name anywho.

And if we find a Mars-sized rock out there, that's at a similar distance to the sun as Pluto, I suggest we re-name it Pluto and quietly forget about it.