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10th Planet Discovered

, Wow!

 
 
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> 10th Planet Discovered, Wow!
Nimii
post Jul 30 2005, 11:24 AM
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"10th Planet" Discovered


Astronomers have found a new planet in the outer reaches of the solar system.


July 29, 2005: "It's definitely bigger than Pluto." So says Dr. Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology who announced today the discovery of a new planet in the outer solar system.

This places the new planet more or less in the Kuiper Belt, a dark realm beyond Neptune where thousands of small icy bodies orbit the sun. The planet appears to be typical of Kuiper Belt objects--only much bigger. Its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets means that it can only be classified as a planet itself, Brown says.

Backyard astronomers with large telescopes can see the new planet. But don't expect to be impressed: It looks like a dim speck of light, visual magnitude 19, moving very slowly against the starry background. "It is currently almost directly overhead in the early-morning eastern sky in the constellation Cetus," notes Brown.

The planet was discovered by, in addition to Brown, Chad Trujillo, of the Gemini Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and David Rabinowitz, of Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. They first photographed the new planet with the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope on October 31, 2003. The object was so far away, however, that its motion was not detected until they reanalyzed the data in January of this year. In the last seven months, the scientists have been studying the planet to better estimate its size and its motions.

"We are 100 percent confident that this is the first object bigger than Pluto ever found in the outer solar system," Brown adds.

Telescopes have not yet revealed the planet's disk. To estimate how big it is, the astronomers must rely on measurements of the planet's brightness. Like all planets, this new one presumably shines by reflecting sunlight. The bigger the planet, generally speaking, the bigger the reflection. The reflectance, the fraction of light that bounces off the planet, is not yet known. Nevertheless, it is possible to set limits on the planet's diameter:

Even if it reflected 100 percent of the light reaching it, it would still be as big as Pluto," says Brown. Pluto is 1400 miles (2300 km) wide. "I'd say it's probably [about] one and a half times the size of Pluto, but we're not sure."

The size of the planet is further limited by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which has already proved its mettle in studying the heat of dim, faint, faraway objects such as the Kuiper-belt bodies. Because Spitzer has been unable to detect the new planet, the overall diameter must be less than about 2000 miles (3200 km), says Brown.

The planet's temporary name is 2003 UB313. A permanent name has been proposed by the discoverers to the International Astronomical Union, and they are awaiting the decision of this body before announcing the name.

source: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/29...x.htm?list14586

Guys check the site for the pix too!

N
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visuja
post Jul 31 2005, 02:06 PM
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LOL.. Nimii ... Read yr wake-up call at Mandrake's blog :-) (Appreciate yr sense of humour) : bow :

I did read yr article (as well as the link and related articles on other websites through yesterday). Somehow, the discovery doesnt strike me as a very BIG one for some strange reason.

I read somewhere that this planet is largest object beyond Pluto that orbits the sun. But I somehow feel its so far away that it really doesnt matter what we call it as ...'planet' ..or a 'large rock' in the Kuiper belt... Maybe its something Im not seeing ..

Could someone elaborate on the significance / importance of the discovery ? I tht some ppl considered even Pluto to be a part of the Kuiper belt.

Any info on : How near / far are Pluto and the new 'planet' from the main Kuiper belt ? Is the belt as 'dense' and 'well defined' as the one between Mars and Jupiter (I forget the name ---- Asteroid belt ?) ? Dont comets too belong to the same Kuiper belt (at least those that belong to the Solar System, in theory) ?

Vivek
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spbobby
post Jul 31 2005, 06:07 PM
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textbooks need to change

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Bhag Tweety Bhag,Teri Izzat Ka Sawal Hai


hi
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deewani
post Aug 1 2005, 02:42 AM
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It wasn't as exciting to me either and I know exactly why: because last year they claimed the same thing about another star, and later retracted it. I'm not getting excited until they confirm this.

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Mandrake
post Aug 1 2005, 07:52 PM
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Yes, it is too early to comment on. Besides, the distance is too big, and the orbit tilted at 44 degrees - meaning it might have just got caught in the sun's 'zone'.

For a nice write-up, see the link below:

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050801.html

Self - belief is the most potent force.
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Nimii
post Aug 1 2005, 08:01 PM
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I need to take a trip there to confirm, may be then Mandrake ji will accept it as a planet or whatever.

Do I book my flight?

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vivekpm
post Aug 2 2005, 01:19 PM
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Seems this discovery would not have been made public but for a hacker...

QUOTE
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’t confirm much about it until it was analysed again last January. So in the time honoured tradition of boffins everywhere they decided to keep the data from the common people until they knew a bit more.

Brown said that data is still being processed and it will take at least six months before astronomers can determine the planet’s exact size. The planet seems to be about 1.5 times the size of Pluto, which is usually dubbed a planetoid because it is so small.

The find should further stuff up modern astrologers - they still have not got the hang of Uranus. µ


Source: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=25031 (Reported on /.)

Cheers,

V i V e K ...

--------------------------------------------



Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
-- Will Durant

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