new horizons

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The Dr
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new horizons

Post by The Dr »

“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
semisynthetic
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Re: new horizons

Post by semisynthetic »

Thanks to the new data, the planetoid/ dwarf designation may be changed to "planet" once again.

Pluto has on it surface and below, liquid ammonia, assorted organic molecules; and weather systems that were once considered at least "unlikely"; although not my first choice for a "getaway" vacation, it is fascinating to learn these new little crumbs of info, and be very proud of those who engineered a craft that was hurled all these years in almost 0 Kelvin.
"Everything is a Poison; it is the amount or degree that separates one Poison from another"
Paracelsus
mc
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Re: new horizons

Post by mc »

Alas, I doubt they'll change Pluto's classification back to 'planet'. Ever since the number of Kuiper Belt objects discovered shot up, Pluto was on borrowed time as far as planet status was concerned. Indeed, the reason it was ultimately demoted was because it "hasn't cleared its orbit" i.e. there are too many objects of comparable size present in the same region of space. A planet is deemed to be the most gravitationally dominant object in its location, and thus perturbs smaller bodies into more distant orbits. Poor Pluto has too many near-twins out there for that. Still, I'm hugely excited by all the wonderful discoveries New Horizons will bring over the coming months. Who knew such a frigid, distant body could be geologically active and have such large variations in climate? :D
BzaInSpace
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Re: new horizons

Post by BzaInSpace »

The image I saw - reproduced on that ib link the Dr posted - is simply awesome.

Colours as reproduced as closely as realistically possible apparently!

Some incredible close up stuff here
O P 8
semisynthetic
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Re: new horizons

Post by semisynthetic »

mc wrote:Alas, I doubt they'll change Pluto's classification back to 'planet'. Ever since the number of Kuiper Belt objects discovered shot up, Pluto was on borrowed time as far as planet status was concerned. Indeed, the reason it was ultimately demoted was because it "hasn't cleared its orbit" i.e. there are too many objects of comparable size present in the same region of space. A planet is deemed to be the most gravitationally dominant object in its location, and thus perturbs smaller bodies into more distant orbits. Poor Pluto has too many near-twins out there for that. Still, I'm hugely excited by all the wonderful discoveries New Horizons will bring over the coming months. Who knew such a frigid, distant body could be geologically active and have such large variations in climate? :D
I think you are probably right; I did hear some comments on NASA TV by several people who's names are unknown to me, suggested that it was "under consideration", which at first I thought may be exhuberence at the Beauty of the One-Time Planet, and the Project. I called a friend at NASA who I have known for years, and she too suggested for a list of reasons, some far from as Scientific as the very good points you have made.
Much of Science is far from Scientific; after all these years, I am still more amused than amazed at nomenclature and decisions. I could list "a list", but one of my favorites concerns a one time popular sedative called Veranol. The Chemist, who licked the spoon, (and more), commented upon the wide-spread use, that his original "Tests" - he ate some; made his trip on the Luxury Train of that era remind him of Shakespear's "Old Verona", hence the name. Veranol is a Barbiturate derivative - the fellow who worked on the Drug Class later called Barbiturates, was said to have had a Lover called Barbara at the time. Very Scientific. :D Before I called Miss S., I thought a renamed REAL Planet, made clear by such a successful mission would help future funding more than "one of a crowd of generally unknown rocks", was actually one of many of the "reasons" cited for Planetary status being reconsidered; one of the oldest problems in Science has been funding and acceptance. So, I will not be surprised either way. But, your points are quite good and reasonable.
"Everything is a Poison; it is the amount or degree that separates one Poison from another"
Paracelsus
The Dr
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Re: new horizons

Post by The Dr »

i always thought it went like this

- we have found a new planet called senna

- that's not a planet

- why not? it has the same properties as pluto

- yeah, well then pluto is not a planet

that's how i've always imagined the declassifaction meeting going
“You're not Dostoevsky,' said the citizeness

'Well, who knows, who knows,' he replied.

'Dostoevsky's dead,' said the citizeness, but somehow not very confidently.

'I protest!' Behemoth exclaimed hotly. 'Dostoevsky is immortal!”
semisynthetic
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Location: Undefined; drifting ever further and further away

Re: new horizons

Post by semisynthetic »

BzaInSpace wrote:The image I saw - reproduced on that ib link the Dr posted - is simply awesome.

Colours as reproduced as closely as realistically possible apparently!

Some incredible close up stuff here

With all of the various hydrocarbons - some of apparently high molecular weight, and who knows with what nature of chromophore, I am looking forward to the Ultra Violet images! .....to trip amongst the stars by.....Should be a very colorful show! That strange "plaque" in the valleys that looks like it could be used in a toothpaste commercial will be VERY interesting to see; just what HAS floated about and nestled there over all this time? I hope to see the IR most of all; not because it is very pretty, it will likely be relatively dull without some tweaking for the benefit of an audience; but very informative! Go ahead and tweak! Might as well make it as pretty as possible; can't hurt. :D An alliteration like "The Pretty Planet Pluto" could change the old stone's status!
"Everything is a Poison; it is the amount or degree that separates one Poison from another"
Paracelsus
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