h a l f b a k e r y
Needs more cowbell.
idea:
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, best, random
meta:
news, help, about, links, report a problem
account:
Browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
or Create a new account.
|
|
|
Please log in.
If you're not logged in,
you can see what this page
looks like, but you will
not be able to add anything.
With the recent discovery of the moon of 2003 UB313 (aka Xena), one item that I saw in most reports was that this somehow strengthened the case for Xena being a planet. People seem to think that being moonless somehow makes a planet inferior, or less of a planet. The quote above comes from astronomer
Mike Brown, for example.
But look at poor Mercury and Venus, moonless, but known as planets since ancient times. Will they now be demoted, because they do not meet the apparently emerging criteria? Will people laugh at the poor planets?
Obviously, something to do once we gain the capability to move asteroids (something that has been investigated for years) is to to move at least 2 into orbits around these two innermost planets, just to make things more neat and balanced. The new, ex asteroid moon of Venus can be called 'Neith', and the one for Mercury, 'Thoth'.
Annotation:
|
| |
(The title should read "Moon Mercury and Venus") |
|
| |
You get an automatic bun for involving my own favourite deity, Thoth - creator of magic, inventor of writing, teacher of man, sometimes a baboon. |
|
| |
A penny for your thoth. They're very neith. |
|
| |
Thoth is also my second favourite nntp
client. |
|
| |
Target date 2nd Qtr. 2654. |
|
| |
Interesting though, the whole planet definition thing. Collins English defines it as "any celestial body that has an elliptical orbit around the sun", which would include asteroids anyway (and Charlize Theron). |
|
| |
And Lucy Lawless, presumably. |
|
| |
I like the fact that everyone's horoscope has to change because Xena has been discovered. It's like discovering that time travel is possible... or maybe not. |
|
| |
Sorry if I haven't been keeping up recently, but have they just named the new candidate for planethood after Xena - Warrior Princess? Not a great start for a 'self-respecting' planet really... |
|
| |
It's a lump of dirt and ice and stuff that's actually larger than Pluto, and is the largest of the TNOs (trans-Neptunian Objects) so far observed. It's also a lot farther away than Pluto, and was observed at about 97 AU (astronomical units - each roughly 150M km) from the sun though its orbit will bring it in to about 35 AU in around 280 years, if you want to wait. Pluto averages about 39 AU, in its orbit. |
|
| |
2003 UB313 is not yet officially named, as far as I know, but its nickname is Xena, and it has a moon unifficially named Gabrielle. |
|
| |
It's thought that it might be a Kuiper Belt object, because it stays reasonably close to the Sun and because it appears to have methane ice on its surface, like Pluto and several other observed KBOs. It also has a moon, which seems to be true of the larger KBOs, including Pluto. |
|
| |
Sedna is a different story, with an aphelion of almost 1000 AU. It's thought to be an Oort Cloud object that may have been dragged into solar orbit by a passing star, at some point. |
|
| |
Info courtesy of Wikipedia, which I was forced to consult when my son did a project on space for preschool. He started quizzing me about Pluto and Charon, so I had to find out the facts. |
|
| |
Just a thought: What is the likely effect on the current balances between thge inner planets, if we toss in a moon that weighs a few sextillion (2 x 10^18) tonne, as does Pluto's moon, Charon? |
|
| |
//everyone's horoscope has to change because Xena has been discovered//
Actually, they don't, just like they didn't when Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were discovered. The basis, if that's the right word, of astrology is the relationship of the known planets and constellations at the time that they were discovered by the Babylonians. If astrology bore any resemblance to reality, its practitioners would have realised that the apparent positions of the zodiacal constellations have changed due to precession.
Xena, Schmena. |
|
| |
But in those days, they thought the Earth was flat and was the centre of the universe. |
|
| |
//Xena - Warrior Princess? Not a great start for a 'self-respecting' planet really//
I think the rot started to set in when they started naming planets after cartoon dogs. Good job it was discovered in the 20s and not the 70s otherwise Tombaugh would've named it Scooby-Doo.
//in those days, they thought the Earth was flat// Anyone see QI last Friday? [Ian] obviously didn't - he gets that klaxon sound normally associated with Alan Davies. |
|
| |
//the apparent positions of the zodiacal constellations have changed due to precession// Fortunately the precession has proceeded according to precedent. |
|
| |
{Searches for pun - "Precedent? True, man" - "Nix on the precedent" - decides not to bother.} |
|
| |
Actually, Mercury did have a moon. |
|
| |
Observers of the planet noticed that it had a "wobble" and thought this was because it had a moon pulling at it. They even gave it a name. |
|
| |
Einstein came along and found out that gravity can bend light, so Mercury's wobble was actually distortion of the sun's gravity.
Like Pluto, it's a there-it-is-now-it's-not situation. |
|
| |
I like 'Neith' for Venus' moon. Would the Sun even allow Mercury to keep any satellite that didn't have a perfectly circular orbit? Seems solar perturbations would argue the point rather effectively. |
|
| |
btw, if you want to know where all the 'valcanoids' are, just look at Mercury's surface. . . |
|
| |
Just like giving presents to the gods of apollo. |
|
| |
I'm not sure if this would work. I
suspect that the reason these innermost
planets lack moons may be related to
the relatively huge tidal effects of the
sun's gravity. |
|
| |
The moon is gradually receding from
Earth, and I think this is meant to be
due to tidal effects. Presumably these
would impact Mercury and Venus even
more, so perhaps moons would not be
stable around these planets. |
|
| |
Somebody ought to know the answer to
this. |
|
| |
I'd bun that, as long as they were forcibly delivered. |
|
| |