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chest rockwell

Joined: 16 May 2005 Location: Sanbon
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 4:17 am Post subject: |
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Planet X? Next youll be talking about the zeta's |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 5:48 am Post subject: |
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I always wanted to write a story about a guy that discovers a comet that is going to smack into Mars and names it Comet Ford F150 Pickup, after selling the naming right to Ford for $10 million.
The guy who discovers the planet/comet generally gets to name the planet. Hmmm... |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 7:09 am Post subject: |
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It would never happen though. The person who discovered it gets to name it but it still has to be approved by the...International Astronomical Union or whatever it's called. So no calling it 'Snazzy Planet D' just because you can. |
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Hyalucent

Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:03 am Post subject: |
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I just hope they stick within the motif and go Roman, but some folks are suggesting to CNN names like "Freedom" and "Liberty" and it's making me cringe.
My vote goes for Minerva, Diana or one of the other Roman Goddesses, just to help even out the gender equation. |
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sonofthedarkstranger
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:38 am Post subject: |
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This the 10th planet, not the 12th...so far.
Good chance there's way more than 12 out there...the Kuiper belt seems to be filled with these rocky, icy objects. Quaoar and Sedna among them. Such objects blur the line and beg the question, what is a planet?
Sedna's status as a planet is still debatable but this one seems to be pretty decisively a planet, not just a planetoid. What makes it so? Just the fact that it's bigger than Pluto?
What is so magical about Pluto's size that makes it the cut-off point between planet and planetoid?
Pluto, Quaoar, Sedna and 2003 UB313 are most likely just a few of a whole slew of rocky, icy objects out there. There may be hundreds of them, of every conceivable size, with snowballs blurring into worlds. (And on the other end of the size spectrum, gas giants blur into brown dwarves blur into stars).
Is the debate as to whether certain things (including Pluto) even meaningful or important? What matters (to me) is that this stuff is out there. I like it that our tidy little classification schemes are being challenged. The universe is a lot messier, grayer, and murkier than some would like it. But I like it the way it is. |
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mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003 Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:54 am Post subject: |
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That's why this has been my favourite quote for the past few weeks:
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"Penetrating so many secrets, we cease to believe in the unknowable. But there it sits nevertheless, calmly licking its chops." --Henry Louis Mencken |
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Paji eh Wong

Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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Can we pleasepleaseplease not name it Xena? |
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igotthisguitar

Joined: 08 Apr 2003 Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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chest rockwell wrote: |
Planet X? Next youll be talking about the zeta's |
What's a Zeta ???
Also, as far as the title the "12th" Planet goes, the reason for this is that the ancient Summerians apparently counted the MOON & the SUN as planets. |
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