The Sun's 10th planet...?

[LoudMusic]

Originally posted by halfracedrift
What's "TK" light-years?

And.. I have one question.. Coments like Halley's comet only come by Earth every 76 years or so. Why? (not so long.. why does it come back!) Does the sun extend it's gravitational pull beyond Pluto, to a point where it can slow down a coment and pull it backwards? If it is, then we really can't deny the POSSIBILITY of another planet, or even two existing..

Well, comets have orbits just like planets. I wouldn't say that the Sun is pulling it 'backwards', just keeping it in a loop. Halley's orbit is quite eliptical if I recall correctly. And at a tilt, like Pluto's orbit.

 

[LoudMusic]

Here is a VERY COOL orbit viewer for our solar system, including our special comet (:

http://astro.u-strasbg.fr/~koppen/orbitviewer/halley.html

 

[LoudMusic]

And here is the list of 583 "potentially hazardous" things in space. Each with its own orbit viewer.

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/orbits/

 

[halfracedrift]

Well.. by backwards, I meant in a loop.

LM, thanks for posting those. Really helpful

 

[The359]

There was another supposed "Planet X" found last year called Quaoar, but it is even smaller then this Sedna, and is not considered a planet by much of anyone in the scientific community.

 

[NISMOskyline]

Originally posted by Famine
I'll mock them all I like. Just as I shall mock Uranus for not only having the silliest name , but for also being the only planet crappy enough to not have moons named after gods... Uranus's moons are all named after Shakespearean characters - how lame is that?

That may be one of the most hilarious things you have said, just because I wouldn't expect you to say it.

 

[hanker]

I saw some T.V. program and it was talking with the guy who found the "land mass" and he himself is not considering it a planet as of yet.... By any chance does anyone know this new "planets" orbit cycle (How long does it take to circle the sun??)

 

[The359]

Mercury: 87.97 Days
Venus: 224.70 Days
Earth: 365.26 Days
Mars: 636.98 Days
Jupiter: 4,332.71 Days
Saturn: 10,759.50 Days
Uranus: 30,685.00 Days
Neptune: 60,190.00 Days
Pluto: 90,550.00 Days
Sedna: 3,832,500.00 Days (Estimate)

Sedna's orbit is highly eliptical, even more so then all the other planets in the Solar System, hence why it's orbit is so long.

 

[hanker]

Originally posted by The359
Mercury: 87.97 Days
Venus: 224.70 Days
Earth: 365.26 Days
Mars: 636.98 Days
Jupiter: 4,332.71 Days
Saturn: 10,759.50 Days
Uranus: 30,685.00 Days
Neptune: 60,190.00 Days
Pluto: 90,550.00 Days
Sedna: 3,832,500.00 Days (Estimate)

Kool Stuff but i was actually wondering about this "10th planet" not the known ones.......

 

[The359]

What do you think Sedna is...?

 

[hanker]

Yes that was my original question, i didn't think it was that badly worded

 

[Slicks]

Haven't scientists also found the end of the universe (or have claimed to)? Personally, I don't think that's quite possible. How do they know that we aren't one of many big bangs? That there aren't a billion undiscovered galaxies? The thought of us being so... insignificant... in the giant scheme of things could send one to an institution. I mean, it's mind boggling.

Any thoughts?

 

[Mike Rotch]

The havent found the end of the universe, they have managed to view some of the earliest stages of the universe though - something like 400 mil years after the Big Bang.

And yes, there remain billions of undiscovered galaxies, because we dont have the technology to view all of them, and even if we did have the technology to view them, some of them are too far away for the light to have reached us yet.

 

[The359]

The current theory is that there are multiple universes, similar in fashion to billions of galaxies within our universe.

And Hanker, I suggest you reread my original post. I answered your question exactly.

 

[hanker]

Originally posted by The359
The current theory is that there are multiple universes, similar in fashion to billions of galaxies within our universe.

And Hanker, I suggest you reread my original post. I answered your question exactly.

NO YOU DIDN'T All you did was edit it........nice try though

 

[The359]

Yeah, but you also quoted my post...you can see that Sedna is in there too. So in other words, when you replied to my post, it said Sedna.

 

[hanker]

It was not there before, i would have seen that....

 

[Famine]

Originally posted by hanker

Originally posted by The359
Mercury: 87.97 Days
Venus: 224.70 Days
Earth: 365.26 Days
Mars: 636.98 Days
Jupiter: 4,332.71 Days
Saturn: 10,759.50 Days
Uranus: 30,685.00 Days
Neptune: 60,190.00 Days
Pluto: 90,550.00 Days
Sedna: 3,832,500.00 Days (Estimate)

Kool Stuff but i was actually wondering about this "10th planet" not the known ones.......

You quoted it. Obviously it was there before - otherwise you couldn't have quoted it...

 

[hanker]

Well then im just really stupid, because I remember looking at the thing over and over seeing if it was there......

 

[Firebird]

[trivia]

For a good 50 years of the 19th century it was believed, although not totally embraced by the scientific community, that a planet existed between Mercury and the Sun. The scientist who first proposed the idea named it Vulcan.

[/trivia]


As for Sedna, it's just another Kuiper Belt object. As it stands Pluto is the largest Kuiper Belt object ever found, and as far as I know that's why it is considered a planet and other smaller Kuiper Belt objects aren't. If anything bigger than Pluto is ever found in the Kuiper Belt scientists would probably make it the tenth planet.

 

[Famine]

Actually, Sedna is being proposed as an "Inner Oort Cloud Object" - and the first definitive proof that the Oort Cloud exists.

Another reason for doubting Pluto's status is that, as you pointed out, it is a Kuiper Belt Object, but not "clearly the largest object in it's region of space" - Quaoar is smaller, yet comparable in size and is not the only KBO to approach these dimensions.

 

[Jugend]

Sedna:

Named after a girl in an inuit legend. She won't marry the boy her father wants to so she marries her fathers dog instead.

That's even better than Uranus.

 

[Danoff]

As far as I know they don't quite know what to call it and they still can't agree on what to call Pluto.

They need to come up with a hard fast definition for the word "planet" quickly because scientists are expecting to find a half dozen more of these kuiper belt objects, some may even be larger than pluto.

It's going to be a problem because they'll probably end up either having to add a ton more planets, or downgrade pluto to sub-planet status.

 

[Famine]

There are several definitions astronomers use:

1. Larger than all other objects in it's region of space put together (Earth is bigger than the moon and all NEO asteroids put together - Earth is a planet. Pluto is not bigger than Charon, plus Quaoar plus ALL the other KBO put together, so it isn't).
2. Large enough to have been made spherical by it's own gravitational forces (Pluto is a planet. Unfortunately, so are a hell of a lot of NEO, VABO and KBO).

Chances are Pluto will retain it's "planet" status due to tradition, but any new planet will have to be f'in huge.

 

[eddieturner2002]

Originally posted by Famine
Actually, Sedna is being proposed as an "Inner Oort Cloud Object" - and the first definitive proof that the Oort Cloud exists.

Another reason for doubting Pluto's status is that, as you pointed out, it is a Kuiper Belt Object, but not "clearly the largest object in it's region of space" - Quaoar is smaller, yet comparable in size and is not the only KBO to approach these dimensions.

I reckon Famine is a military experiment with a constant drip of neverending information going into him.

Famine, you get my award for most knowledgable person i have ever publicly read. 👍