Science channel on Pluto, balloon observation, Jupiter

[newtonian]

The Science channel, carried by DirecTV (ch. 284) and Dish (ch 193), has 3 hour long astronomy episodes tonight into tomorrow (repeating).<br /><br />Right now the episode "Last Planet from the Sun" is on.<br /><br />I will edit more info. soon into this post:<br /><br />"The discovery of large, rocky asteroids in the outer solar system raises the question if Pluto should actually be considered a planeet." - Dish Network & DirecTV overview.<br /><br />That would be the fact that Pluto is in the Kuiper belt and is not alone.<br /><br />The search is considered for still another planet in this belt. Many objects found but none as large as Pluto....<br /><br />[Note, there is some evidence a planet may be in the Oort cloud much further out there.]<br /><br />Then comes Cosmos for another hour:<br /><br />"As an imaginary spaceship tours and examines planets, data about Jupiter arrives at NASA's laboratories from Voyager II."<br /><br />Then comes "Space balloons: 120,000 feet above Earth." <br /><br />"Scientific ballooning is an efficient and economic method of conducting research in space."<br /><br />I hope to post more notes soon, and still more another day.

 

[qso1]

Balloons are an excellent way to conduct research and I would like to see balloon bearing probes exploring Jupiter, Saturn atmospheres...Titan, Venus, the list goes on. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Two tweaks:<br /><br /><font color="yellow">"That would be the fact that Pluto is in the Kuiper belt and is not alone." </font><br /><br />More specifically, Pluto is one of dozens of objects in 2:3 resonant orbits with Neptune. These are Plutinos. a particular subset of KBO's<br /><br /><font color="yellow">"The search is considered for still another planet in this belt. Many objects found but none as large as Pluto.... " </font><br /><br />Since the show was made, at leat one object, Eris, has been discovered that is larger than Pluto<br /><br />MW <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[newtonian]

qso1 - The show indicated, besides planetary probes, current earth based scientific missions - some 14 per year at roughly 1% the cost of rocket missions.

 

[newtonian]

MeteorWayne – Thanks for the tweaks! Astronomy, along with other fields of science, is experiencing progressive revelation!<br /><br />I hadn’t heard of Eris – have any considered labeling Eris a planet?<br />

 

[qso1]

For earth based balloon borne research programs thats an excellent cost ratio and where practical, balloons are certainly the way to go for earth based research. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Eris (formerly nicknamed Xena) is a dwarf planet in the same class as Pluto, by the IAU definition. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[newtonian]

qso1 - I agree.

 

[newtonian]

Meteorwayne - OK, found it in Sciam under Xena - thanks for the clue.<br /><br />Sciam, 10/05, p. 32 discusses new planets in our solar system briefly.<br /><br />"First came Quaoar in 2002 and then Sedna in 2003."<br /><br />Then Sciam reports on Xena: photographed at Palomar Observatory in 2003, but not discovered as a planet until January 2005 because of its unusual orbit - 45 degrees off most planets. Surface mostly methane ice similar to Pluto. <br /><br />"Designated 2003UB313 and unof-<br />fi cially nicknamed Xena, the mass of ice and<br />rock currently lies three times farther out<br />than Pluto." - "Scientific American," 10/05, p. 32.<br /><br />Interestingly, Sciam refers to the Oort cloud as hypothetical. I thought that it was proven by extrapolating back based on comet orbits!<br /><br />Xena is, of course, in the Kuiper belt, not the Oort cloud.<br /><br />It may have come from the Oort cloud however.<br />