A new moon on the block. by Cybersnark

TALK STORY

A new moon on the block.

POSTED BY: CYBERSNARK
UPDATED: Thursday, July 26, 2007 08:48
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VIEWED: 2282
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Thursday, July 19, 2007 12:58 PM

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070719/sc_space/new60thmoonofsaturndis
covered

Quote:
A new moon of Saturn has been discovered, bringing the total up to 60.

Initial measurements suggest the new moon, which is still unnamed, is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) wide, and lies between the orbits of Mehone and Pallene, two Saturnian moons discovered by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in 2004. The newfound moon is about 1.09 million miles (1.76 million kilometers) from Saturn and could be part of a larger group of still undiscovered moons around the ringed planet.

Congratulations to Saturn (that lovable oddball) for hitting the big six-oh. Only a few more and it'll beat Jupiter.

We should have a party.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007 1:15 PM

YINYANG

You were busy trying to get yourself lit on fire. It happens.

Wow... that's a lot of moons.

to Saturn.

"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire

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Thursday, July 19, 2007 2:09 PM

FIZZIX

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070719/sc_space/new60thmoonofsaturndis
covered

Quote:
A new moon of Saturn has been discovered, bringing the total up to 60.

Initial measurements suggest the new moon, which is still unnamed, is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) wide, and lies between the orbits of Mehone and Pallene, two Saturnian moons discovered by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in 2004. The newfound moon is about 1.09 million miles (1.76 million kilometers) from Saturn and could be part of a larger group of still undiscovered moons around the ringed planet.

Congratulations to Saturn (that lovable oddball) for hitting the big six-oh. Only a few more and it'll beat Jupiter.

We should have a party.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

Vraiment?!? Does it have a name! Dude, Sol VI is the coolest planet ever! (Can anyone tell that I enjoy taking all the fun out of planetary names? I don't call it 'the sun', it's Sol. 'Earth' is Sol III, and it's not the solar system, it's the Sol system. XD I don't even want to name moons. *sigh*)

/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\
May not be smart, and it may not please you, but you're definitely gonna see what I have to say.
Put this in your sig if you had a favorite show that may have been named Firefly and was canceled by FOX.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007 4:34 PM

CYBERSNARK

See, I do the opposite. I name everything. There should be a poetry to the universe, despite the efforts of self-important "scientists" to sterilize and classify everything.

Pluto? Still a planet. As are Ceres, Sedna, Quaoar, and Eris (Dysnomia and Charon aren't though; they're just large moons).

And yeah, the star we orbit is Sol, and our satellite is Luna. Calling it the sun and the moon is arrogant.

Of course, I'm a sci-fi writer, so other planets, moons, stars, and their inhabitants/claimants are assumed for me.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007 8:37 PM

SIGMANUNKI

I wonder how long it'll take the astronomers, etc to start to complain that it's too small to be a moon and as such should really be called a dwarf moon or orbiting meteor.

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Thursday, July 19, 2007 9:44 PM

ODDSBODSKINS

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
I wonder how long it'll take the astronomers, etc to start to complain that it's too small to be a moon and as such should really be called a dwarf moon or orbiting meteor.

What they need is a good old fashioned bureaucracy, then complaints could be lodged with the proper authorities, and we could have all the moons and planets we want named ^^

Personally I'll stick to saying 'the sun' and 'the moon' when I'm talking about things in the sky, because I'm lazy, and that's what they are to the universe of my eyes and ears ^^

They may think their sins are original, but for the most part they are petty and repetitive.

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Friday, July 20, 2007 5:13 AM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
I wonder how long it'll take the astronomers, etc to start to complain that it's too small to be a moon and as such should really be called a dwarf moon or orbiting meteor.

Well if you want to get all technical astronomically there is only the one Moon. It is a satellite of Earth. The other so called moons are all satellites of their respective planets. But even speaking loosely there has never been any minimum size expectation for satellites unlike with planets. The reason for the whole Pluto kerfluffle was that there was a minimum size requirement for planets (else there'd be tens to hundreds of thousand planets in the asteroid belt alone) that Pluto was later found to not meet.

David

"Not completely as well as the series of Firefly..." - From a review of Serenity at amazon.de

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Friday, July 20, 2007 6:17 AM

SIGMANUNKI

Quote:
Originally posted by Oddsbodskins:

What they need is a good old fashioned bureaucracy, then complaints could be lodged with the proper authorities, and we could have all the moons and planets we want named ^^

It's already in place. We've seen it not work in the case of Pluto.

Quote:
Originally posted by Oddsbodskins:

Personally I'll stick to saying 'the sun' and 'the moon' when I'm talking about things in the sky, because I'm lazy, and that's what they are to the universe of my eyes and ears ^^

As will I.

@DaveShayne:

Context dictates that I wasn't being 'all technical'. You just didn't get it because you (probably) didn't read the thread and as such, missed the context. Clearly, I was making fun of these jackasses.

Furthermore, I find it wild that you're so arrogant to assume that I didn't know what all the fuss was about. Let's get something straight, it wasn't about criteria that Pluto didn't meet, etc. It was about changing the criteria to a point that would exclude Pluto as a planet. If you would have taken the time to google 'pluto planet', you know this by the first sentence of the first hit.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060824-pluto-planet.ht
ml
"""
The distant, ice-covered world is no longer a true planet, according to a new definition of the term voted on by scientists today.
"""

And if you'd take the time to read the wikipedia entry you'd realize that this new 'definition' is wildly insufficient and WAY too fuzzy to be remotely scientific.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto#IAU_decision_and_the_.22Great_Pluto
_War.22
"""
1. The object must be in orbit around the Sun.
2. The object must be massive enough to be a sphere by its own gravitational force. More specifically, its own gravity should pull it into a shape of hydrostatic equilibrium.
3. It must have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
"""

Also, this term 'dwarf planet' is completely asinine. Just look at the wikipedia entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_planet
"""
As defined, the term dwarf planet does not apply to other planetary systems.
"""

So, just here, not elsewhere. It also includes a known asteroid as a 'dwarf planet' (Ceres). What kind of 'science' is this?!?!?

Oh, and btw, the majority didn't vote on it and there is a... large group of these guys are have stated that they will ignore this embarrassing 'ruling'.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5283956.stm
"""
Alan Stern agreed: "I was not allowed to vote because I was not in a room in Prague on Thursday 24th. Of 10,000 astronomers, 4% were in that room - you can't even claim consensus.
"""

"""
Stern said like-minded astronomers had begun a petition to get Pluto reinstated. Car bumper stickers compelling motorists to "Honk if Pluto is still a planet" have gone on sale over the internet and e-mails circulating about the decision have been describing the IAU as the "Irrelevant Astronomical Union".
"""

But, there's a lot of other info in there that you should really read. Please do your research.

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

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Friday, July 20, 2007 7:11 AM

DAVESHAYNE

Quote:
Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
Context dictates that I wasn't being 'all technical'. You just didn't get it because you (probably) didn't read the thread and as such, missed the context. Clearly, I was making fun of these jackasses.

No I got it. I thought it was misguided and unfunny but I got it.

David

"Not completely as well as the series of Firefly..." - From a review of Serenity at amazon.de

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Thursday, July 26, 2007 8:48 AM

FIZZIX

Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
See, I do the opposite. I name everything. There should be a poetry to the universe, despite the efforts of self-important "scientists" to sterilize and classify everything.

Pluto? Still a planet. As are Ceres, Sedna, Quaoar, and Eris (Dysnomia and Charon aren't though; they're just large moons).

And yeah, the star we orbit is Sol, and our satellite is Luna. Calling it the sun and the moon is arrogant.

Of course, I'm a sci-fi writer, so other planets, moons, stars, and their inhabitants/claimants are assumed for me.

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

Yeah, that's where I don't call it the Sun, I use Sol. It's not the Solar system, it's the Sol System, to fit in line with proper naming. And i have no problem with naming planets and moons, it's just easier to remember roman numerals.

/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\/|\
May not be smart, and it may not please you, but you're definitely gonna see what I have to say.
Put this in your sig if you had a favorite show that may have been named Firefly and was canceled by FOX.

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Thursday, July 26, 2007 8:48 AM

FIZZIX

And this is the bit where I double post to make a fool of myself.

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