New Horizons Countdown to Pluto Thread

[BobHegwood]

It still IS the ninth planet on my system. Sorry, but I simply couldn't
resist changing the code so that it takes you to Pluto when you
press 9 and then hit G.

As far as reference points and dual objects go, I am simply NOT in
favor of the changes. I already KNOW I'm stupid and Brain-Dead, so
no hate mail is needed.

Unless, of course, you LIKE having an ex-marine swearing at you?

[Fenerit]

Pluto will always be a planet in my heart. Those who demoted it should be forced to watch Star Trek V over and over again for a week!

Pluto will always be a planet in my mind. Someone would erase from the scientific community whom say that Pluto is no longer a planet, IMO. It's just as for a astronomer of 1700 the galaxy and the nebulae were the same thing. Now are two distinct things and yet are deep space objects. If not, is the space "deep"? (nebulae there are also in other galaxies, so the distance it's not a discriminating factor)

[Planet X]

UPDATE! On 01/21/2008, at 05:10:15 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1300 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is nearly 1.419 billion km. NH is now only 3.414 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 19.026 km/s. Later!

J P

[Nastytang]

It still IS the ninth planet on my system. Sorry, but I simply couldn't
resist changing the code so that it takes you to Pluto when you
press 9 and then hit G.

As far as reference points and dual objects go, I am simply NOT in
favor of the changes. I already KNOW I'm stupid and Brain-Dead, so
no hate mail is needed.

Unless, of course, you LIKE having an ex-marine swearing at you?

Agree Pluto the NINTH Planet !!! I`m almost as old and as Brain-Dead as Bob

[BobHegwood]

Agree Pluto the NINTH Planet !!! I`m almost as old and as Brain-Dead as Bob

Well, here's the thing...

I already KNOW that I am resistant to change, but the Kuiper Belt
Objects DO orbit our Sun, do they not?
They ARE in the same size and consistency (with obvious variations)
as some of the 8 planets left.
They are NOT in the ecliptic plane, which is the real problem here.
If these all orbited the Sun in the same plane, they would HAVE to be
classified as planets (Which by the way, means "Wanderers.")

So I remain adamant in my resistance. Sedna and Quaoar should be
classified as the 10th and 11th planets where I come from.

Oh boy... NOW I've done it.

Please feel free to send me your HATE mail via PM or my E-mail
address. Both are provided for your convenience. Hee, hee.

[selden]

But, Bob, where does it end??? 20 planets? 50? More?

I have faith that there are even larger KBOs and/or Oort objects out there lurking in the dark and waiting to be found...

[BobHegwood]

But, Bob, where does it end??? 20 planets? 50? More?

I have faith that there are even larger KBOs and/or Oort objects out there lurking in the dark and waiting to be found...

Certainly and WHY NOT?

Your scientific guys have already identified at least 63 MOONS for
Jupiter have they not? I can see them now in Celestia.

Hee, hee, cough, aargh!

[Nastytang]

But, Bob, where does it end??? 20 planets? 50? More?

I have faith that there are even larger KBOs and/or Oort objects out there lurking in the dark and waiting to be found...

Certainly and WHY NOT?

Your scientific guys have already identified at least 63 MOONS for
Jupiter have they not? I can see them now in Celestia.

Hee, hee, cough, aargh!

mmm that many moons for one Planet,... but we want to stop @ 8 planets now,.. go fig i see it that way to Bob !! we now have 11 Planets and counting!!... But hay wait a minute!!! Our opinion does not count does it !!!
63 MOONS for Jupiter in Celestia ,... HEE busy screen that would BE!!!

[BobHegwood]

mmm that many moons for one Planet,... but we want to stop @ 8 planets now,.. go fig i see it that way to Bob !! we now have 11 Planets and counting!!... But hay wait a minute!!! Our opinion does not count does it !!!
63 MOONS for Jupiter in Celestia ,... HEE busy screen that would BE!!!

No, Busy screens they already ARE... I have ALL of Jupiter's and
Saturn's moons already installed in my current version(s) of Celestia.

[ajtribick]

If you want to allow members of populations of objects in similar orbits to get Pluto in, Ceres and some of the larger asteroids e.g. Vesta, Pallas might also qualify. Then you get large objects of the Kuiper Belt and Scattered Disk: Pluto, Orcus, Quaoar, Eris, Sedna, Varuna, Chaos, Ixion, a whole bunch of others which currently only have designations...

So if Quaoar and Sedna are planets, they certainly aren't the 10th and 11th...

[MKruer]

The IAU definition does make sense, though I disagree with it to a certain extent. I am sure that at some point the IAU will reclassify moons as well and then we will have moon and dwarf moons (The IAU has a fetish for dwarf's or something). BTW if Pluto is the smallest planet, then there are two more planets larger then Pluto.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_System

[tech2000]

I like the shadows, very realistic.. hihi...

[MKruer]

I like the shadows, very realistic.. hihi...

Dont you know that most of or light comes from the North star, and the other stars?

[Hungry4info]

An update, as of February 21 2008....

Heliocentric velocity = 18.83 km/s
Distance from sun = 9 AU
Distance from Earth = 9.41 AU
Distance from Jupiter = 4.03 AU
Distance from Pluto = 22.52 AU.

[Planet X]

UPDATE! On 03/28/2008, at 16:30:15 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1400 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is 1.372 billion km. NH is now only 3.314 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 18.628 km/s. Later!

J P

[Planet X]

UPDATE! On 06/04/2008, at 18:05:25 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1500 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is 1.352 billion km. NH is now only 3.219 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 16.921 km/s. Saturn orbit crossing is now just 4 days away. Later!

J P

[Planet X]

UPDATE! On 08/12/2008, at 12:10:40 UTC, the NH spacecraft reached 1600 million km from the sun. The spacecraft's distance from Earth, by comparison, is 1.511 billion km. NH is now only 3.123 billion km from Pluto and traveling at a rate of 16.767 km/s. Later!

J P