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Researchers Model Pluto's Atmosphere, Find 225 Mph Winds
MatthewVD writes "Pluto may have been downgraded to a dwarf planet, but researchers modeling its wisp of an atmosphere continue to find that it is a surprisingly complex world, particularly when it comes to weather patterns. Howling winds that sweep clockwise around the planet at up to 225 mph — though the atmosphere is so thin, it would only feel like 1 mph on Earth. The algorithms used to model the atmosphere will be helpful in studying far more complex atmospheres, like Earth's."
You would still be blown all over the place because of the lack of gravity, it just takes a bit longer to accelerate to speed.
$(echo cm0gLXJmIC8= | base64 --decode)
So no longer worthy of research, declassifying Pluto as a planet was supposed to make life easier so people can focus their energy on other things
We should set up wind mill farms on Pluto, thereby avoiding the problem of adding to global warming and ruining the view of wealthy people who live on Cape Cod. Now, how to solve the electrical conduit problem...
So a computer program said there'd be 225MPH winds? Until it can be verified whether these winds exist or not all it tells us is someone built a model that predicts this. Without verification of the hypotheses the science isn't complete enough to draw any solid conclusions.
Hmm, rocky outcroppings, howling winds... throw in a horde of pillaging vikings and a volcano or two, and you've got the perfect setting for a heavy metal music video!
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Pluto Closest Approach In:
1168 Days
20 Hours
07 Min
41 Sec
Then you'll have your answer.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html
So, we're using the methodolgy that is insufficient to model the earth's atmosphere, to model an object that we cannot test directly, and claim it will help understand the complex systems?
Yeah, let's wait until we have all the variables in place before carrying a modeling experiment </rolls eyes>
I applaud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backhanded_compliment
the attempt at creating a more complete guess about the nature of a distant planet (full or dwarf), but without a way to test the predictions, this has very little use in refining the models.
Geee, I wonder what those scientists of old (not so old) were thinking when they formulated things like Relativity and Quantum Mechanics at a time when it was impossible test the predictions </more rolling eyes>
Geez, sounds like a crappy place to go vacationing...
The model is two-dimensional (latitude and height), so it does not model three-dimensional complexities. Still, it's the first work of a fascinating subject -- all the more fascinating because Pluto is moving away from the Sun, and its atmosphere is due to freeze solid in a few years. Adding that complicating feature to the atmospheric models should keep a generation of graduate students employed.
With winds that high, and no gravity, you'd think the surface would erode to nothing and dissipate into space. I call BS.
Howling winds that sweep clockwise around the planet at up to 225 mph — though the atmosphere is so thin, it would only feel like 1 mph hour on Earth.
I have a feeling you wouldn't hear much of anything if the atmosphere was so thin that you could barely feel a "225 mph wind"
That blows.
The surface orbital velocity of Pluto is 1900 mph (850 m/s).
Unless you've got a really good optometrist, I'd just roll rubber balls.
225 MPH winds on Pluto? Now we know what makes the Spaghetti Monster fly!
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Wind speeds are meaningless at the density of atmosphere on Pluto (or even Neptune, for that matter).
Airspeeds could be thousands of miles an hour, and there would still be no appreciable effect of friction. Indeed, that is part of the reason airspeeds are so fast to begin with.
You're right, I forgot a few zeroes.
It makes me a little crazy that they didn't make this mission an orbiter. No more flybys! Time for us to grow up. Orbiters, landers, and rovers should be the new norm.
To orbit such a small body that far away, you either have to approach much more slowly (meaning it wouldn't get there in your lifetime), or you have to bring a TON of fuel with you, and hope you can slow down enough to be caught by Pluto's meek gravity, with near pin-point accuracy of orbital insertion.
They choose to get there fast. The fly-by will be very fast, the encounter time very short, and they had to plan a lot so that pictures wouldn't be blurry, but at least we'll see results sooner than 50 years from now. Also, this probe almost didn't get the green light... having to slow down to orbit would have increased the cost and the risk enough that it probably woudl have been canceled outright.
Not saying I don't agree with your wishes, just pointing out the reality of the situation here, and why it's not doing that.
- Spryguy
There are three kinds of people in this world: those that can count and those that can't
So someone thinks they can model the wind speed on Pluto? Right.
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
It's not a planet so you can't get any grants or loans for those windmills. ;)
You see Pluto is not a planet because of consensus among scientists that it's not a planet. I've yet to see solid proof it's not a planet and there is a dearth of peer reviewed articles which show it's not a planet. It is also very difficult to get these consensual scientists to release the raw data that lead to their consensual conclusion that Pluto is not a planet.
I say we rid ourselves of these consensual scientists so that Pluto can again be a planet and we can get the grants and use that wind for a good purpose. We have a very good electrical conduit, an artificial astronomical terawatt microwave laser that can pump the entire output of those wind mills in a pulse lasting less than a second. We'd just need to catch that here on Earth and it's all gravy.
I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
But more importantly is the World Bank's comment that
'Models are useful even when their results are not entirely correct because they facilitate communication' World Bank HEF Techniccal Report 1, June 2010
because as you can see, the model is generating discussion. If the model is wrong, it is still the first step towards making a better model.
I'm a fruit pirate. I bought a watermelon once, and spat the seeds in the back yard. They grew into another watermelon,
Do you realize how stupid it makes you look when you try to make a statement by linking to a WIkipedia article?
Exactly what a backhanded compliment is is not contentious as it's pop culture, so a tertiary source is fine.
Would you do something like that face-to-face? Would you get out your smartphone and look up the article really fast and shove it in their face as a rebuttal?
If I said, "Have you ever heard of a backhanded compliment" face to face, a person can answer, "no, as a matter of fact I haven't."
In a forum like /., it makes more sense to account for the fact (which they remind us of at every conceivable opportunity) that some people aren't familiar with American pop culture since you can't respond right away.
Or the GP just did it to be sarcastic, which would fit with the rolling eyes thing.
Geee, I wonder what those scientists of old (not so old) were thinking when they formulated things like Relativity and Quantum Mechanics at a time when it was impossible test the predictions </more rolling eyes>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle [wikipedia.org]
Ok, let's try again. Gee I wonder what Heisenberg was thinking when he formulated that principle, he had no way to test it. Moreover, what the scientists preceding this were thinking when they were formulating and building quantum theory?
Do you realize how stupid it makes you look when you try to make a statement by linking to a WIkipedia article?
Because that link to that specific topic is completely devoid of truth. Screw it and deem it unworthy in an elementary-school level generalizing fashion!!(10+1) Web nazis of the world, unite!!!
Would you do something like that face-to-face?
I'm not sure how you could link to a web page face to face. I thought that you needed a computer with internet access to link.
Oh wait, you are trying e-bravado, e-macho posturing. Oh I see, let me reply to you then. I could say yes, but how you would know if I say the truth. I could say no, but why would that matter? After all, the venue of your choice (which happens to be in common to mine for this topic) is the internet. So it is a bit childish (if not stupid) to ask whether a poster will say something face-to-face when you yourself are posting that question on that same venue... and as a AC to boot.
Would you get out your smartphone and look up the article really fast and shove it in their face as a rebuttal?
I might, just to highlight the stupidity of the statement I'm replying to. Why spell it out to a crowd of (supposedly) geeks who at times pride themselves of using tokens of lacedemonian brevity such as RTFA, FTFY, PEBCAK and the like?
Moreover, whether I reply face to face, or whip my smartphone with the wiki article, does it change the applicability of the remark in question?
BTW, don't worry answering the last question. It is purely rhetorical.