who knows? can't see what all the fuss is really - a probe is already on route there - couldnt they just wait until it got there to say for sure instead of all the anguished beard stroking and furrowed brows?

Hahaha, "beard stroking and furrowed brows". Possibly furrowed brow! Seems rather pointless to me as well. To rewrite will cost millions. And I heard they are actually going to the moon for real this time.

yes - the Constellation program is the replacement for the shuttle and it is expected to fly it's first lunar mission within four years of the shuttles retirement with test supply flights to the ISS before that.

I hope they know what measurment system they are using. ;-) Dont want a shuttle going in the wrong direction b/c all the data is in metric!

eh?

U didnt hear about the satellite that was sent off into space b/c NASA and Lockheed Martin use different systems of measurments. One uses metric (meters), the other...uh, the usual american stuff (Like: feet, inches)..

..it was only like a 125 million dollar satellite.

hopefully they have learned by their mistakes of seven years ago - the martian orbiter burnt up in the planets atmosphere then but perhaps they will have more luck with manned craft.

The planet...or the dog?

Yeah...what he said....Pluto is a dog, everyone knows that.

yep its a dog of a place.. heard it's got a mouse problem (sorry bad joke)

Schoolboys (and probably a few Caedesians) are gonna have to think up a whole new set of "Uranus" jokes now, since Pluto isnt around to be the 'straight man' any more. hehe..i can't wait ;-)

Just because it says Offtopic.....

lol darryl, we take "offtopic" seriously around here..(snicker)

It has to go sit @ the little planets' table.

but what is it though?? a big ball floatin around? lol

What are the qualifications of a planet?

it has to report to work on time, all the time. and thats pretty much the long and short of it....it's size doesnt allow it to do that, if i understood correctly...

so it's like a moon? of the sun now?
science is so complicated for my small brain -_-

uhhh....isnt it something like it isnt a planet b/c 1) It overlaps it's orbit with neptune.. 2) It's small so it doenst redirect astroids *that* much, more like the astroids move it. ;-) and...i guess thats it?

what if an asteroid moves pluto towards earth >_>

well it would have to crash through 5 other plants first..and make it past their individual gravity forces, and.... get the picture?

well the planets don't always align right behind us :P and i was just bein stupid -_-

Pluto is now viewed as a "dwarf planet" due to it's orbit intersecting with Neptune's orbit, and the fact that it hasn't "cleared it's orbit" Now that's where the interesting and furious debate comes in. According to the "cleared orbit" requirement it would mean that some other planets (Earth included) could theoretically be downgraded as well.

And who says that it isn't Neptune thats infringing on Pluto's orbit... ;-P

Furrows brow and strokes imaginary beard….

It’s all a load of nonsense really but at least creates an arena for egomaniacal boffins to have a jolly and shout at each other a lot. You could chuck a wrench in the gears and mention that technically gas giant planets like Saturn and Jupiter are little more than small super dense rocks surrounded by vast clouds held in shape by enormous gravitational fields but that would be getting really pedantic.

heaven forbid anyone get even remotely pedantic, especially here ;-)

indeed. :-)

Pedantic? You do and you will clean it up!

So, what are they calling Pluto now? Asteroid?

To sum it up:

Under new guidelines by the International Astronomical Union, a planet is:

• any object that orbits the sun

• round because of gravity

• the dominant object in its region of space

The third criteria is why scientists demoted Pluto — and bumped our solar system from nine planets to eight. (Pluto is not dominant in its region. It’s neighborhood includes icy debris on the edge of the solar system that Pluto has not cleared.)

As a dwarf planet, Pluto joins a class of objects that orbit the sun, such as asteroids and comets. Two more planets, Ceres and 2003 UB313, nicknamed Zena, will join Pluto in the classification.

So, it's a dwarf planet now, not JUST a planet.

Thanks Noah...that does sum it up nicely. I think it will remain as I learned it though.

Good...it's still a planet. Six more and we have all the Dwarfs...Pluto will be changed to Sneezy.

Apparently it’s all up in the air again as astronomers have now discovered a new planet outside of our solar system which they have christened with the catchy moniker of HAT-P-1 which defies all the new ground rules for what constitutes a planet. It’s three times the size of Saturn but only half its mass making it the least dense planetary object yet discovered. So light is it that, if you were to find an area of water large enough to contain it, it would actually float. So maybe Pluto may get its full status back after all – or they may just wait now until the new horizons probe reaches it to spill its secrets.

wait...but it follows all 3 rules, including the one where it manipulates surrounding space stuff. Pluto cant even remove a little gas cloud.

Btw, if anyone wants to see HAT-P-1, I hope thats the name of it, u cant see the sun with your naked eyes...so it's far far away...

Jupiter and Saturn's gravitational fields alter their surroundings as well but they have comparatively little mass and may not even be solid at all.....

Incidentally, it doesn’t actually affect its surroundings as it orbits its parent star very closely – a full orbit taking less than a week – any effect would be hard to measure as it is part of a binary star system called ADS 16402 which is visible through binoculars and is believed to have a cumulative impact on its surroundings.

I think when i read the article about 4 days ago, it said it orbits the sun at something like 1/4th the distance of ours and it orbits once every 4.5 earth days.

So this planet breaks rule 3, as well as pluto, so it is not a planet.

except it is. apparently. hence the confusion. go figure.

...they claim it's a planet yet it breaks rule 3!?!?

not so much a rule as a guideline it would seam. size really does matter after all.

it's about gravitational pull/force...uh, yeah.

well, ignoring what everyone else posted before me.. I still believe Pluto is a planet. :D

That would mean we would have to add at least 1 other celestial body in our solar system if Pluto were to be a planet, leaving us at at least 10 planets.

i thought we had 12 now? :-\

we have 9...moving on...

*cough* 8

*cough* 4

Mars, earth, venus, saturn, jupiter, uranus, neptune...whats the other one...umm...i cant think of the other one! Oh yeah, mercury (had to look it up)

*cough*
only 1 planet.
ours

There is only 1 class M planet in our solar system. (so um..is 'class m' a real thing, or is that a made up star trek thingamojig?)

oh my goodness. Guys there are 9 planets, ok. NINE ^_^

Does that 9 include Pluto on your list;-))

if i had to guess, noah, the whole 'letter class' usage on Star Trek is Naval in origin (and no, not your belly button) ...

Is it too late to comment that no, Pluto is a dog ?

And Uranus is a cold, barren locale....

So you been there? I have more but don't dare.

*thinking: OK Curt... gotta keep this G-rated*

Nevermind. :o)

You can PM me your X rated comment Curt ... ;o)

(and then she'll pass it on to me 8•P)