Planet X

[apothanein kerdos]

Suprisingly enough, many are beginning to assume it will be called Xena...yes...after the warrior princess on TV.

Only in America.

[nebula]

Sorry for being late to this discussion . . . too much stuff going on.

Anyhoo -

Pluto's planetary status has been in question for a while.

You see, Pluto is in an orbit around the Sun that is completely different from the other planets. For one, its shape is a lot more elliptical than the others (albedo is the correct term). For another, it's angle of orbit is on a different plane.

But what really brought its status in question is the discovery of what are being called TNO's (Trans-Neptunian Objects) - "ice dwarfs" in orbit around and beyond Neptune's orbit.

Many are believing that Pluto is actually a very large TNO rather than a "planet."

It's like someone found a large rocky body between Mars and Jupiter and called it a planet; but then it was found that there is an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and that this "planet" would be better classified as an asteroid than a planet.

This is the debate with Pluto - is it the same category as the "planets" or the same category as the "TNO's" (or "Kuiper Belt Objects")?

This is an explanation designed for kids, but it works:

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/pluto/index.shtml

[Keith]

Call me old-fashioned, but I think they should leave Pluto a planet and apply their new knowledge to future findings. If they take Pluto's planetary status away from him now, especially when he didn't do anything wrong, the other planets are going to laugh at him. He already gets enough hassle for being different from the rest and traveling down a different path than the rest of the planets! Give Pluto a break!

Hmmmm.... maybe Pluto is a Christian Planet!

[Gerioke]

Call me old-fashioned, but I think they should leave Pluto a planet and apply their new knowledge to future findings.  If they take Pluto's planetary status away from him now, especially when he didn't do anything wrong, the other planets are going to laugh at him.  He already gets enough hassle for being different from the rest and traveling down a different path than the rest of the planets!  Give Pluto a break!   

Hmmmm.... maybe Pluto is a Christian Planet! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Pluto is a dog

Goofy is a dog

I don't get it

Doesn't the robotoid come from planet X? How many Sci fi movies has planet X been in?

[hmh]

Wasn't Plan 9 from Outer Space from Planet X?

[followerofjesus]

There is also speculation from some that it is inhabited & has been visiting planet Earth for thousands of years.

[other one]

There is also speculation from some that it is inhabited & has been visiting planet Earth for thousands of years.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That is the one that I said we should not be confused with as being found. It is much too small to be of that nature, and there is no evidence that the Planet X that the Sumerians talked about exists.

[Liss]

Sorry for being late to this discussion . . . too much stuff going on.

Anyhoo -

Pluto's planetary status has been in question for a while.

You see, Pluto is in an orbit around the Sun that is completely different from the other planets.  For one, its shape is a lot more elliptical than the others (albedo is the correct term).  For another, it's angle of orbit is on a different plane.

But what really brought its status in question is the discovery of what are being called TNO's (Trans-Neptunian Objects) - "ice dwarfs" in orbit around and beyond Neptune's orbit.

Many are believing that Pluto is actually a very large TNO rather than a "planet."

It's like someone found a large rocky body between Mars and Jupiter and called it a planet; but then it was found that there is an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and that this "planet" would be better classified as an asteroid than a planet. 

This is the debate with Pluto - is it the same category as the "planets" or the same category as the "TNO's" (or "Kuiper Belt Objects")?

This is an explanation designed for kids, but it works:

http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/pluto/index.shtml

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

please don't take this the wrong ways, but i was under the impression that asteroids did not move about in the manner in which pluto moves about.

anyhoo, i think pluto has been classified as a planet for this long - i say why change it now. i think new knowledge should be applied to new research and new findings.

[nebula]

please don't take this the wrong ways, but i was under the impression that asteroids did not move about in the manner in which pluto moves about.

I'm not exactly following you.

Asteroids exist in the inner solar system.

Pluto exists in the outer solar system - as do the TNO's.

[Qun Mang]

Interesting. It seems this discovery was made two years ago. They did not intend to release the news yet, but hackers forced them to:

Hacker forced new planet discovery out of the closet

10th planet found two years ago

By Nick Farrell: Monday 01 August 2005, 07:39

BOFFINS WHO discovered that there was a 10th planet in our solar system, had been sitting on the news for years until a hacker turned over their servers.

Michael Brown, a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology, announced the discovery over the weekend. But according to the South African Sunday Telegraph, here, the briefing was hastily arranged after Brown received word that his secure website containing the discovery had been hacked. The unnamed hacker was threatening to release the information.

It transpired that Brown and his friends had been sitting on the information since 2003 when they snapped it with a 122cm telescope at the Palomar Observatory. However they couldn