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Pluto and Charon...
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 10:11 am
by The State
Something I did not know...
...about astronomy, a Hill sphere.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/10/89285 ... -influence
Re: Pluto and Charon...
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 11:24 am
by Wolfman
Always good to learn something new. Looking forward to some neat photos and more enigmas to ponder.
Re: Pluto and Charon...
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 12:15 pm
by BSmack
The State wrote:Hill sphere
Vince Foster was in the Hill Sphere.
Re: Pluto and Charon...
Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:56 pm
by Goober McTuber
The State wrote:Something I did not know...
That's an astronomically broad range of topics. Just sayin'.
Re: Pluto and Charon...
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 4:16 am
by The State
Wolfman wrote:Always good to learn something new. Looking forward to some neat photos and more enigmas to ponder.
Would make a great setting for a goth/horror/scifi movie, ala Alien or Pitch Black.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/pluto-by-moonlight
Re: Pluto and Charon...
Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 1:12 pm
by The State
By the way...
One of the arguments for demoting Pluto from planetary status was that Eris, one of the Kuiper Belt objects, was larger than Pluto and therefor would have to be classified as a planet as well. Recent measurements from New Horizons indicate that Pluto is, in fact, bigger than Eris.
Because of the relative masses of Pluto and Charon, some astronomers believe they can be classified as a double planetary system. Their long elliptical orbit also occasionally takes them inside of the orbit of Neptune.
If anything, Pluto and Charon deserve their own unique designation, perhaps a Rogue Dual Planetary System.
At any rate... all of the astronomy textbooks on the solar system will be outdated as of tomorrow.