Comments on: Nine, ten, eleven… how many planets?

By: andy

andy — Wed, 31 May 2006 06:46:03 +0000

bla bla bla bla i think all the newly planets is planets it’s size is bigger or smaller than pluto mph!

By: Random Developments » Looking at Pluto

Random Developments » Looking at Pluto — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:47:32 +0000

[...] Interesting developments… it looks like 2003 UB313, about which I wrote here and here, is smaller than it was thought. It is so reflective that it looks larger than it is, and this means that it may not be larger than Pluto after all. Not that this changes much about the discussion of whether it is a planet or not, and the same goes for Pluto. [...]

By: Helen

Helen — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 12:59:22 +0000

found this site wen searching for australias brainiest kids info.. ur really interesting.. and yeah~ jus wanted to say that

By: Random Developments » Of planets and moons

Random Developments » Of planets and moons — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 00:54:29 +0000

[...] Interesting developments in the outer solar system: it turns out that 2003 UB313, the possible 10th planet (code-name “Xena”), has a moon. That body, which I discussed in a previous post, is larger than Pluto and orbits the Sun in such a way as to intersect Pluto’s orbit, which makes it the most similar body to other planets that was discovered so far. [...]

By: Wilson

Wilson — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 23:25:27 +0000

Charon is indeed Pluto’s moon. You may be thinking of Quaoar, a body about half as large as Pluto that was discovered in 2002 in its general neighbourhood; its orbit intersects that of Pluto, or, rather, Pluto’s intersects Quaoar’s (as Pluto it the one with the highly eccentric orbit; Quaoar’s is much more planet-like).

As for what happened to it, as far as I know, it’s still there I don’t think there’s much talk anymore of making it officially a planet because it’s too small, but any set of rules that included Pluto and Sedna would almost certainly include Quaoar as well (it is, in fact, easier to think of Quaoar as a planet than Pluto, given their orbits).

-Wilson

By: Thomas Williams

Thomas Williams — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 22:47:53 +0000

Hi Wilson – some very interesting posts on what’s happening in space science…thanks! So, whatever happened to “Charon” (or was it just a moon of Pluto?)

Cheers,

Thomas