Author Topic: Pluto's been demoted. (Read 33041 times)

Doctor_Raven · « **on:** August 25, 2006, 01:38:22 am »

Well the scientists have done it this time. Through their logic and reason they have changed the definition of what it means to be a planet and in the process have demoted Pluto to a "dwarf planet." I'm pretty certain that dwarf planet is just a nice way of saying MOON.

Astrologists I empathize.

tetsaru arigashi · « **Reply #1 on:** August 25, 2006, 02:01:20 am »

i heard about that! it seems like there's also another body that's been code-named "Xena," which i think is also a dwarf planet... could be that "Planet X" that astronomers were looking for way back in the day. it's good to see progress in the astronomy field, since it's always something that has interested me, but i still think mankind is in the stone age when it comes to space travel and exploration. we've always been stuck in that look-but-don't-touch stage, it seems. =/

Doctor_Raven · « **Reply #2 on:** August 25, 2006, 02:58:18 am »

Well according to Lurr of Omicron Persiae 8 we're all DOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED, that and sometimes theres an itch you have to scratch.

I don't like these sudden changes to definitions of what is and is not a planet. Its this kind of thinking that created the mass obesity "epidemic" in America when doctors decided the levels were "not just right."

ROMate · « **Reply #3 on:** August 25, 2006, 11:41:10 am »

Pluto's now a dwarf planet. But it has moons. Do PC-moons have moons?

bfg00 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 25, 2006, 05:02:36 pm »

Quote from: Doctor_Raven on August 25, 2006, 02:58:18 am

I don't like these sudden changes to definitions of what is and is not a planet. Its this kind of thinking that created the mass obesity "epidemic" in America when doctors decided the levels were "not just right."

Actually the problem was that there was no scientific definition of a planet in the first place, it was all ad hoc before. The requirements for a planet do make sense from a planetary evolution point of view. Personally I wish they would drop the second condition (the condition that its orbit is cleared) or specify it more, because according to the definition nothing is a planet anymore since objects intersect their orbits.

Quote from: tetsaru arigashi on August 25, 2006, 02:01:20 am

i heard about that! it seems like there's also another body that's been code-named "Xena," which i think is also a dwarf planet... could be that "Planet X" that astronomers were looking for way back in the day. it's good to see progress in the astronomy field, since it's always something that has interested me, but i still think mankind is in the stone age when it comes to space travel and exploration. we've always been stuck in that look-but-don't-touch stage, it seems. =/

The name "Xena" is what was given it by the person who discovered it and hope to God that it is not officially named that but rather the current naming convention is used (Roman Deities). It is not the Planet X that people had been looking for, it doesn't have enough mass.

As for progress in astronomy, there has been lots of progress in astronomy in the past 100 years. This is thanks to advances in physics and technology. There has been advances in Astronomy in all fields from High Energy Astrophysics to Cosmology to Galactic Evolution, its just the planetary sciences and solar astronomy are more on the forefront of the public mind because they are close by and we have actually sent probes there.

Hmm...maybe I should write an article on the current descision by the IAU, I am an astronomer but I don't deal with planets (I study Cosmic Rays and Supernova Remnants).

Snorlax.RAYZR · « **Reply #5 on:** August 25, 2006, 11:57:55 pm »

*sigh*

I really wish I kept up with me Astronomy. I knew all that dwarf stuff when I was a kid.. then I just stopped reading the book =/

But yeah, isn't that a smack to the astrologists? o_O

King Zarkon · « **Reply #6 on:** August 26, 2006, 04:25:56 am »

EDIT: to avoid risk of further embarassment at the hands of bfg, i am deleting this post.

bfg00 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 26, 2006, 12:02:12 pm »

Apparently I missed that one. As far as I know Pluto has 3 moons, Charon, Nix, and Hydra, all of them smaller than it.

Alpha Centauri is the nearest star to our Sun, 4.3 lightyears away. It is a system of 3 stars which is pretty neat.

bandit008 · « **Reply #8 on:** August 27, 2006, 04:19:31 am »

i remember my astrology teacher telling us that pluto was once also thought to be a double-moon.

Harada Fan · « **Reply #9 on:** August 27, 2006, 07:51:58 am »

dawrf planet huh? yeah I heard the story. So they just couldn't call it a huge floating rock in space .

ROMate · « **Reply #10 on:** August 27, 2006, 12:32:19 pm »

That's a very loose term. Everything is a big floating rock in space. Well, except maybe the gas giants. I'm not sure what their cores are made of.

bfg00 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 27, 2006, 02:09:43 pm »

Quote from: HGsIndestruc.Roommate on August 27, 2006, 12:32:19 pm

That's a very loose term. Everything is a big floating rock in space. Well, except maybe the gas giants. I'm not sure what their cores are made of.

I'm not sure either. From what I've seen the cores of gas giants are solid (about 10 Earth Masses from what I understand).

For your information Astronomy does not equal Astrology

Astrology: Study of how the stars and planets affect your future and daily life. Basically Mysticism.
Astronomy: Study of how stars, planets, and outerspace in general works. A science

Astrology and Astronomy used to be closely tied together but now they quite unrelated.

Ellendesu · « **Reply #12 on:** September 01, 2006, 04:57:35 pm »

lol science

bfg00 · « **Reply #13 on:** September 02, 2006, 12:05:24 pm »

Quote from: The Great Will on September 01, 2006, 04:57:35 pm

lol science

Not science but SCIENCE!

science: boring stuff you do in classroom and done by normal scientists
SCIENCE!: Stuff like building Mass Drivers, Wormhole devices and other superscience. Usually the realm of Mad Scientists.

ROMate · « **Reply #14 on:** September 02, 2006, 01:52:58 pm »

She blinded me...with SCIENCE!

tetsaru arigashi · « **Reply #15 on:** September 02, 2006, 02:27:18 pm »

Quote from: bfg00 on September 02, 2006, 12:05:24 pm

Not science but SCIENCE!

science: boring stuff you do in classroom and done by normal scientists
SCIENCE!: Stuff like building Mass Drivers, Wormhole devices and other superscience. Usually the realm of Mad Scientists.

hmm, reminds me of those old educational shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy, lol... "*insert random object here* of SCIENCE!"

and who could forget - "THE BEAKMAN CHALLENGE!!!" XD

man, those shows were awesome back in the day...

ROMate · « **Reply #16 on:** September 02, 2006, 02:37:41 pm »

I miss them both.

Muhznit · « **Reply #17 on:** September 02, 2006, 03:47:48 pm »

Quote from: tetsaru arigashi on September 02, 2006, 02:27:18 pm

hmm, reminds me of those old educational shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy, lol... "*insert random object here* of SCIENCE!"

and who could forget - "THE BEAKMAN CHALLENGE!!!" XD

man, those shows were awesome back in the day...

Indeed. And Mad science is fun. Genetic Engineering, Nuclear Fusion, Moon-Mounted Gamma Emitters, hell yeah. Science was always my favorite subject in school.

bfg00 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 03, 2006, 02:54:21 pm »

Those shows were great. Ah the good old days of quality TV programming, how I miss them.

tetsaru arigashi · « **Reply #19 on:** October 03, 2006, 09:59:35 pm »

Thought this might be appropriate to post here... it's something about two scientists winning a Nobel Prize for helping prove the Big Bang theory:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061003/sc_nm/nobel_physics_cosmos_dc

News:

Author Topic: Pluto's been demoted. (Read 33041 times)