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Date: | Thu, 24 Aug 2006 12:26:29 -0400 |
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis Schatz [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2006 9:39 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Latest on definition of planet and spoof from The
> Cobert Report
> I wonder what major astronomical discovery we are not
> hearing about
> because of the focus on the definition of a planet?
>
> Dennis
Well...
Apparently Norway is under bombardment from space:
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1391556.ece
...Or maybe not. Finds of "meteorwrongs" are multiplying as enthusiasm grows for finding odd-looking rocks in your yard. Who knows, maybe we'll at least get a few future geologists and obsessive rock collectors out of this.
The new human spaceflight vehicle which will replace the Shuttle will be called Orion:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/exploration/mmb/orion_announcement.html
Although I would have preferred another Orion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29
Mars is more dynamic than we thought, but we still don't have good evidence for tectonic and seismic activity:
http://www.astrobiology.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=21787
More evidence (about as direct as we can get, through observation) of "Dark Matter:"
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=20634
> The part of the resolution that declared "hydrostatic equilibrium" and "cleared its surrounding
> neighborhood" as planet characteristics passed. Pluto doesn't apparently qualify for "cleared
> its surrounding neighborhood".
Hmmm. I suppose Neptune does qualify, although there seen to be two dozen or so "Plutinos" -- objects of Pluto's size and composition -- which cross its orbit. So has it, or has it not, "cleared its surrounding neighborhood?"
You see why we astronomers enjoy messing with your heads.
Marc Taylor
Coordinator, Andrus Planetarium
Hudson River Museum
511 Warburton Avenue
Yonkers, NY 10701
914 963 4550 x223
Fax 963 8558
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