Another planet may be beyond Neptune: researchers

Maybe H.I.S. can organize a group tour there.

As for this,what a bunch of rubbish. I have picture books which clearly illustrate Pluto is the 9th planet of the solar system.

 

Could that be the 'missing' 12th planet?

 

...there may be up to 1000 planetary bodies in the Kuiper belt! That's a shed load more than the 9 I was taught at school.
His name is Alan Stern.
http://space.newscientist.com/channel/astronomy/dn...

 

And just when you thought science knew everything and had it all sorted out, even the most mundane elementary school lesson gets an alteration.

Knowing that something like this is always right around the corner is why I am such a Doubting Thomas.

 

That's the great thing about science,and astronomy in particular. What we think we know is always changing, and the redefinition of what a planet is get sits kick from the Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud and other objects as in Notgigner's link.

Also...

It apparently tilts about 20-40 degrees to the plane of orbit

Partial credit, JT. That should be "It apparently tilts about 20-40 degrees to the plane of the ecliptic"

 

Time-Life books are cool, aren't they?

On the other hand, our moon (radius 1700 km) is bigger than Pluto (radius 1200 km). Wow. We have a planet orbiting us! We Are the center of the universe! The church was right!

 

...I'm with the mainstream group of protesters that Pluto is now and will always be, a planet!

 

Pluto is not a planet - by the definition of (this planet's) most eminent scientific authority on the subject.

Anyone who disagrees is showing Luddite behavior.

 

I'm about to go check it out. My warp speed engine ship is near completion...

 

Its not about size alone. Its also about what revolves around what. The planet Mercury is smaller than both Ganymede (Jupiter moon) and Titan (Saturn moon), and Mars just a bit bigger than those.

And its not so much that Pluto was decided not to be a planet. Actually what happened is that the term planet was clearly defined for the first time in 2006. Pluto did not make the cut.

 

So what if pluto is a planet. So what if it is not. It changes absolutely nothing but its place in a dusty catalog. The really exciting things in planetary astronomy are happening on Mars, Titan, and Europa.

 

UNless we can go hang out there, or get something usefull from them it doesn't make much difference what we label it does it? Lets find a useful planet and get exited. As far as taking away Pluto planetary status, it is a bit unfair after all these years. hwo does the saying go...?

Even a dogs arse deserves its day in the sun

 

Pluto!!! Pluto!!! Pluto!!!!

New Pluto
PlutoII

 

This is not all that surprising but it is very cool. The existence of planets or large planetoids has been speculated for a very long time.
For a good explanation as to why Pluto got the boot check out Phil Plait, the Bad Astrnonmer. http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/08/24/brea...

 

Size doesn't matter? I believe Galileo(?) predicted a planet existed beyond Neptune several hundred years ago. Then they found Pluto in 1939 (6?) but even then some scientists said it was too small to account for the movement of Neptune.

For a good podcast about Pluto and other planets circling various suns, check out slacker astronomy.

 

Uh, no, it does. But its not the only thing.

 

Agreed! The orbit of every planet lies in the same plane as all the others. Pluto's is so skewed from that plane that I find that reason enough to demote it.

Showing astronomical ignorance here... I know the multiple moons of other planets aren't all in the same orbital plane. Are they at least close, or are their orbits completely haphazard?