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Why Pluto Still Matters

Posted by samzenpus on from the where-the-mi-go-and-the-terran-federation-play dept.

StartsWithABang writes Nearly a century ago, Pluto was discovered, and for 48 years it remained the only known object whose orbit takes it beyond the gravitational pull of Neptune. In a single generation, we've now discovered more than 1,000 additional objects in the Kuiper Belt, but does that make Pluto any less special? Here's a strong argument for why Pluto might matter now more than ever.

5 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Not worth reading by toxygen01 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Even though I'm a huge fan of space and astronomy, I must say TFA certainly doesn't reach qualities to be posted on slashdot. The approver must have been drunk or what

    1. Re:Not worth reading by Will.Woodhull · · Score: 4, Informative

      Having RTFA, it is evident to me that the reason the abstract lacked any redeeming quality of any kind is because the article itself had no redeeming quality of any kind.

      Slashdot: I wasted several minutes of my life reading TFA. I want them back.

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      Will
  2. Re:Once a planet, always a planet by umafuckit · · Score: 4, Informative

    Do you consider Ceres a planet? Because until more recently it, and IIRC one or two other asteriods, were considered planets. Today, hardly anyone has hard of Ceres. Ceres got demoted what it was realised that was simply a large object among millions that shared its orbit. It's the same for Pluto.

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    soylentnews.org
  3. Sentimental nonsense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Pluto still matters because it is the most well studied known Kuiper belt object and we are finally about to get a good look at it.

  4. Re:"beyond the gravitational pull of Neptune" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    I think the article is referring to the Hill Sphere.