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Dear Irma:
You know what was so wonderful about this conversation? It was about something important that had NO POLITICAL CONTENT and did not threaten the well being of anybody. It was just enriching and enlightening and fascinating!
Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 at 8:15AM
Richard Kigel
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Brother Rich: Pluto is truly Mickey's friend. I think he's remember in us! He hasn't totally disappered yet! Enjoyed it!
Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 at 10:24AM
MIISRAEL Bride
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Thanks, MIISRAEL!
The amazing thing about Dr. Tyson is that he is making his mark as an astronomer and astro-physicist and as a teacher. He is making astronomy popular with the young people.
Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 at 11:08AM
Richard Kigel
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Pluto, Discovered 80 Years Ago, Still a Big Mystery
SPACE.com Staff
SPACE.com Space.com Staff
space.com Thu Feb 18, 8:49 am ET
Pluto was discovered 80 years ago today, and astronomers are still arguing over what it is.
The oddball world, downgraded from planet to dwarf planet status in 2006 and then later reclassified, is really out there. Scientists aren't sure exactly what Pluto's made of, how it formed, or why it orbits so oddly compared to the eight primary planets. And there are at least two camps of astronomers when it comes to defining Pluto. Some just think of it as a planet, others call it a dwarf planet or a plutoid.
While NASA has a spacecraft en route to Pluto and slated to make close-up images in 2015, the best images of Pluto so far, taken this year by the Hubble Space Telescope, are mere smudges.
Pluto's discovery
The hunt for Pluto began in 1905 when Percival Lowell (of Martian Canal infamy) hypothesized about the possibility of a Planet X in the outer solar system.
Lowell died before Pluto was discovered. Clyde Tombaugh found it on Feb. 18, 1930 in a concerted scan of the sky. Tombaugh compared two photographs taken at the Lowell Observatory and noted the object's movement against the background of stars.
Most of Pluto's orbit is out beyond that of Neptune. But the path is oblong, so Pluto spends part of its 248-year orbit – the time it takes to make one circle around the Sun – inside the track of Neptune.
Pluto's path is also extremely inclined, by 17.1 degrees, to the main plane of the solar system where the other planets travel.
Asteroids also circle the Sun in the solar system's main plane. So do some comets. But many comets, like Pluto, have highly inclined orbits. This similarity, plus Pluto's small size – smaller than Earth's Moon – led to its demotion.
Mysterious Pluto
Studies in 2003 showed that despite an almost nonexistent atmosphere, Pluto has wind and seasons and appears to have recently gone through a phase of global warming.
The leading theory for the formation of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, is a wild one: A nascent Pluto was struck by another Pluto-sized object. Imagine a glancing blow and a lot of cosmic Silly Putty getting stretched and repacked into new spheres with new rotations. Observational evidence for this collision theory remain thin, however.
Charon is much bigger than any other moon in relation to the size of its host planet, further muddying Pluto's status. Some astronomers think of the setup as a double planet.
Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 at 3:56PM
Siebra Muhammad
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Thank you Dr. Muhammad!!!
Always good to get schooled by the best! (smile!!)
Wednesday, March 3rd 2010 at 5:13PM
Richard Kigel
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rICH, I REALLY ENJOYED THIS INTERVIEW RACHAEL HAD WITH "MR. PLUTO KILLER.(SMILE) LETS ALL HOPE THAT THOSE VERY YOUNG WILL BETTER BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THEIR PRESIOUS MICKEY MOUSE'S DOG'S NAME SAKE IS STILL RIGHT UP THERE IN THe SKY WHERE THEY TOLD HIM TO PUT IT RIGHT BACK AND TO LEAVE IT ALONE!!! loooooool I WAS CRACKING UP AT THIS TAKING AWAY MICKEY MOUSE'S DOG AS SOME OF THEM THOUGHT THIS BAD MAN HAD DONE.
I AM SO SURE THEY ARE PROUD OF THEMSELVES THAT THEY MADE THIS BAD MAN PUT PLUTO RIGHT BACK AND WILL NEVER TAKE IT AGAIN.(SMILE)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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tHANK YOU RICH DID YOUR STUDENTS GET TO SEE THE PROGRAM ON PBS. I DO HOPE SO.
OH, AND BY THE WAY IF YOU HAVE EVER SEEN THAT nOVA ABOUT THE SKUNKS? IF YOU HAVE YOU SAW ABOUT 3 MILES FROM WHERE I LIVE. THE SKUNKS HAD TAKEN OVER A PART OF THE CITY AND WITH OUT AN NATURAL EITHER AS THEY STURTED OUT AND DOWN THE STREETS AT A CERTAIN TIME OF THE DAY...
NOVA DID A MOVIE HERE BUT ACROSS THE RIVER A FEW YEARS ABOUT THE CROWS THAT HAD TAKEN OVER A MALL EACH DAY AT FUSK AND AT DAWN. OH THAT SMALL RIVER IN THAT MOVIE ON TEH SKUNKS LOOKS SMALL AND IS SAMLL UNTIL WE GET THE USUSL RAIN EVERDAY AND IT DON'T GET ANY BREAK OR THE LEVY BREAK THEN YOU GET A 200 YEAR FLOOD...AND, AS A RULE WHEN YOU HEAR ANY THING ABOUT OUR AREA LIKE YUBA CITY MAKES THE ROAD ATLAS AS TAHE BEST OR THE WORST PLACE TO VISIT...THEY WILL SAY MARYSVILLE, YUBA CITY ALWAYS TOGETHER BUT THEY ARE ACROSS HT ERIVER FROM EACH OTHER....
LONG AFTER THE TWO DIFFERENT 200 YEAR FLOODS HERE, I WAS LOOKING AT A LOCAL MAP AND MARYSVILLE IS ACTUALLY ABOUT A SMALL ISLAND...I WAS ABLE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHY IT GETS SUCH LARGE FLOODS AND OTHER AREAS GETS LESS.(SMILE)
JUST ALITTLE CHIT CHAT AS THIS HAS BEEN A BAD DAY.(SMILE) NITE, NITE...
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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Yep, don't mess with Mickey Mouse or (the planet) Pluto that has given us adults so many great moments that we are so happy to pass on to our children...Politics "I" can believe in with a grin from ear to ear watching those two every Sat. at the movies. 15 cents for movie and 10 cents for a box of popcorn. Now those were the days, Mr. Bad man(smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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Oops, I take that back Mickey and Pluto are a way of life. looooooooool (smile)
Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM
ROBINSON IRMA
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