Renobulus writes: "The BBC has this story about a giant asteroid orbiting near Pluto. This article also talks about Pluto's role as a planet in our solar system. This asteroid could help prove scientists belief that Pluto is only a minor planet."
Re:Meaningless nomenclatural dispute
by
efuseekay
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· Score: 3, Interesting
You should become a professional astronomer. For making more sense than those who are involved in the planet vs planetoid dispute (which I think is silly.) It's classification, not science!
However, your point (3) is tricky. Whether or not something is spherical (and that's another minefield : how spherical is spherical?) depends a lot on its mass and composition. A massive, but hard chunk of rock is less spherical than a small, squishy ball of dust.
We can categorize by mass of course. And I don't know why people don't do that...(anybody has any ideas?)
-- Mode (3) smart-aleck mode. Press * to return to main menu.
Re:Meaningless nomenclatural dispute
by
RedWizzard
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· Score: 3, Interesting
The obvious point to the debate is whether or not the solar system has 9 (major) planets or 8. But it doesn't mean much, probably something that gets debated mainly when people are drunk.
It should never have been large enough to ignite nuclear fusion, i.e., a planet is not a star or a stellar remnant.
It should not be orbiting another planet, i.e., a planet is not a moon.
And finally, it should be large enough for its gravity to crush it into a spherical shape.
Pretty reasonable. It would mean that the asteroid Ceres (and probably some of the other larger asteroids) would qualify.
Re:Planet vs. Planetoid vs. Asteroid
by
Guppy06
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· Score: 3, Interesting
" Almost everything is held together by gravity. Including all asteroids, comets etc...."
Nope. The less massive the object, the weaker the gravitational force it exerts on its parts. If the constituant molecules were held together solely by gravity, once you shrink to a certain size, the random thermodynamic motion of the molecules would cause the object to eventually break apart.
Gravity works great for massive objects (like our moon), but it's all but non-existant with smaller objects (like you, your computer, a Mack truck, Eros...). There, the molecules are held together by the chemical (electromagnetic) bonds between the individual molecules.
Asteroids aren't held together by gravity, they are literally one big rock. If they weren't, they wouldn't be cratered because the first impact would be its last. Just like kicking a sand castle.
Comets aren't held together by gravity, instead they're held together just like all snowballs: ice crystals gluedd together by the surface tension of liquid water. If it were just gravity, they wouldn't survive passing anywhere near the sun. They'd be torn apart during the first pass from steam pockets. If steam can move ships and locomotives massing millions of tons here on earth, it can sure as heck put something into escape velocity on a body where the average man weighs less than ten pounds.
Re:Virtual Telescope
by
jaga~
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Which side of mars is that? are you suggesting the whole exploding 5th planet thing? having craters on half the planet would mean that asteroids chose to strike mars between certain hours every day.. and not during other hours.. I'm not sure why but this doesn't quite make sense to me...
--
"This is where god would go if he wanted to get off blow!"
Cthulu would be a cool name
by
kiwipeso
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· Score: 2, Interesting
I'm wondering if anyone knows who cthulu is?
Definately a cool name for a large asteroid.
Slashdot Mirror
You should become a professional astronomer. For making more sense than those who are involved in the planet vs planetoid dispute (which I think is silly.) It's classification, not science!
However, your point (3) is tricky. Whether or not something is spherical (and that's another minefield : how spherical is spherical?) depends a lot on its mass and composition. A massive, but hard chunk of rock is less spherical than a small, squishy ball of dust.
We can categorize by mass of course. And I don't know why people don't do that...(anybody has any ideas?)
Mode (3) smart-aleck mode. Press * to return to main menu.
-
It should never have been large enough to ignite nuclear fusion, i.e., a planet is not a star or a stellar remnant.
-
It should not be orbiting another planet, i.e., a planet is not a moon.
-
And finally, it should be large enough for its gravity to crush it into a spherical shape.
Pretty reasonable. It would mean that the asteroid Ceres (and probably some of the other larger asteroids) would qualify." Almost everything is held together by gravity. Including all asteroids, comets etc...."
Nope. The less massive the object, the weaker the gravitational force it exerts on its parts. If the constituant molecules were held together solely by gravity, once you shrink to a certain size, the random thermodynamic motion of the molecules would cause the object to eventually break apart.
Gravity works great for massive objects (like our moon), but it's all but non-existant with smaller objects (like you, your computer, a Mack truck, Eros...). There, the molecules are held together by the chemical (electromagnetic) bonds between the individual molecules.
Asteroids aren't held together by gravity, they are literally one big rock. If they weren't, they wouldn't be cratered because the first impact would be its last. Just like kicking a sand castle.
Comets aren't held together by gravity, instead they're held together just like all snowballs: ice crystals gluedd together by the surface tension of liquid water. If it were just gravity, they wouldn't survive passing anywhere near the sun. They'd be torn apart during the first pass from steam pockets. If steam can move ships and locomotives massing millions of tons here on earth, it can sure as heck put something into escape velocity on a body where the average man weighs less than ten pounds.
Which side of mars is that? are you suggesting the whole exploding 5th planet thing? having craters on half the planet would mean that asteroids chose to strike mars between certain hours every day.. and not during other hours.. I'm not sure why but this doesn't quite make sense to me...
"This is where god would go if he wanted to get off blow!"
I'm wondering if anyone knows who cthulu is?
Definately a cool name for a large asteroid.
- Kaos games and encryption systems developer