Members elsongs Posted August 24, 2006 Members Share Posted August 24, 2006 PLUTO HAS BEEN DEMOLISHED????? OMG!!! NO WAI!!!! WHAT EVIL GALACTIC WARLORD WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT?!?!? (Not Bush's fault because we simply don't have the technology!!) SO THIS MEANS THE NASA PROBE TO PLUTO HAS BEEN CANCELLED?!?! Oh wait... "demotion." Haha. I get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brittanylips Posted August 25, 2006 Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 Originally posted by Brittanylips In a way, Pluto has been promoted rather than demoted, with similar kuiper belt objects now classified as "Plutons." -plb Correction: The astronomers were lobying for the entire class of Pluto-like icy objects orbiting the sun to be called "Plutons" in honor of Pluto. However, because the word is already defined in geology as something else (magma) the geologists blocked its use in astronomy. Therefore the new class of Pluto-like mini-planets are currently being called "dwarf planets" but the name will likely change to something else. As one scientist argued, a dwarf human is still a human, so how can a dwarf planet not still be a planet? -plb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brittanylips Posted August 25, 2006 Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 Originally posted by Lee Flier No, but that was an actual conceptual error, not just a name change. It's not like we suddenly discovered anything new about the behavior of Pluto, we just changed what we call it. After years of arguing over it. Whatever. Actually, it was a conceptual error. Neil Tyson was the first to publicize the conceptual errors under which we considered Pluto a planet (and describes his subsequent life as a living hell, receiving hate mail from elementary school children around the globe!) However, the reclassification comes from an enhanced understanding of what Pluto is and isn't as well as what else is out there. The fundamental debate boiled down to science vs. culture. -plb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted August 25, 2006 Author Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 Originally posted by Brittanylips Neil Tyson was the first to publicize the conceptual errors under which we considered Pluto a planet (and describes his subsequent life as a living hell, receiving hate mail from elementary school children around the globe!) Oh, poor Neil Tyson. Meanwhile, 94-year-old Patricia Tombaugh, the widow of the man who discovered Pluto, has to live with the fact that her husband's legacy was declared virtually meaningless. Really, I think Pluto has more in common with the other little planets (the insignificant ones like Mercury, Venus, and Earth) than those four big-ass balls of gas that pass for planets out there. I say that Jupiter is not a planet! Ha! How do you like that, Jupiter! You're just a star that was too small to ignite. And now look at you! Worthless! And screw you, Saturn! You and your pretty little rings! - Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brittanylips Posted August 25, 2006 Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 Originally posted by Jeff da Weasel Meanwhile, 94-year-old Patricia Tombaugh, the widow of the man who discovered Pluto, has to live with the fact that her husband's legacy was declared virtually meaningless. I'm more comfortable declaring her a planet if it will make her feel better, then preserving her husband's legacy. Originally posted by Jeff da Weasel Really, I think Pluto has more in common with the other little planets (the insignificant ones like Mercury, Venus, and Earth) than those four big-ass balls of gas that pass for planets out there. If it weren't for those 4 big-ass balls of gas, life on Earth would not exist. It's precisely because they are able to control objects in their vicinity (the most esoteric part of the new definition of "planet") that Earth is shielded from life-destorying bombardment. Originally posted by Jeff da Weasel I say that Jupiter is not a planet! Ha! How do you like that, Jupiter! Without Jupiter, there would be no weasals. In fact, in the search for life in other solar systems, one prerequisite is almost certainly a huge planet like Jupiter whose gravity is able to shield a smaller planet like Earth from the sort of bombardment that would continuously derail evolution. -plb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted August 25, 2006 Author Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 (Ignoring logical dicussion by Blips) And another thing: Jupiter is a planet killer! That's right. There was probably a TENTH planet, some nice little lump of matter, between Mars and Jupiter, at some point. But Jupiter just had to be the big planet! It couldn't handle another planet in its vicinity. So it murdered it in cold blood! Or, sucked it into its gravity well, or something like that. Broke it up into a million pieces, many of which are now these little asteroids like Gaspra and Ida. Again, I think Jupiter is bitter and spends eternity with a planetary Napoleon complex. It could have been a star, but instead it's just a pissed-off bunch of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter is dead to me! Long live Pluto! - Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deef Posted August 25, 2006 Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 Originally posted by Jeff da Weasel (Ignoring logical dicussion by Blips)And another thing: Jupiter is a planet killer! That's right. There was probably a TENTH planet, some nice little lump of matter, between Mars and Jupiter, at some point.But Jupiter just had to be the big planet! It couldn't handle another planet in its vicinity. So it murdered it in cold blood! Or, sucked it into its gravity well, or something like that. Broke it up into a million pieces, many of which are now these little asteroids like Gaspra and Ida.Again, I think Jupiter is bitter and spends eternity with a planetary Napoleon complex. It could have been a star, but instead it's just a pissed-off bunch of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter is dead to me! Long live Pluto!- Jeff Just take a deep breath and back away from the telescope. By the way, a handful of Tombaugh's ashes are hurtling toward Pluto on the New Horizons spacecraft. When he left Earth, his destination was a planet. When he gets there in 2015, he's going to learn some disappointing news. "Hey, in your dating profile it said you were a planet! Do you know how far I drove?" Deef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted August 25, 2006 Author Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 Originally posted by Deef "Hey, in your dating profile it said you were a planet! Do you know how far I drove?" You know, there's no saying that in another 173 years or whatever, a different group of scientists might say that these scientists were wrong, and rightfully restore Pluto to its former stature.Science isn't an exact science, you know.- Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ViLo Posted August 25, 2006 Members Share Posted August 25, 2006 Word is that Pluto is Gay, so it's got to go! :wave: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members littledog Posted August 27, 2006 Members Share Posted August 27, 2006 I'm impressed that there is so much astronomical and cosmological knowledge floating around here. Who said all musicians were ignorant boors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ViLo Posted August 27, 2006 Members Share Posted August 27, 2006 Originally posted by littledog I'm impressed that there is so much astronomical and cosmological knowledge floating around here. Who said all musicians were ignorant boors? Oh! we know! we know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BLAblablah Posted August 27, 2006 Members Share Posted August 27, 2006 Originally posted by Magpel My favorite rule of thumb (anyone know the dark origins of that expression?) "For more than two centuries there have been references in legal works to the idea that a man may legally beat his wife, provided that he used a stick no thicker than his thumb" Bear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jotown Posted August 28, 2006 Members Share Posted August 28, 2006 It is a very small group of astronomers who made this decision. As Blips said; changing its status doesn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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