PLUTO SPEAKS OUT: I'm a planet, damn it!

From the culturelab blog on New Scientist:

Pluto

Greetings, planet Earth. It's Pluto. Remember me? Ever since your astronomers had their "big meeting" in 2006, I've heard Earth dwellers saying I'm not a planet anymore, and I'm fed up.

At least I'm getting some respect in journalist Alan Boyle's new book, The Case for Pluto - a lot more than from some other authors I won't mention (you know who you are, Neil deGrasse Tyson). It's a great account of my place in history and culture, the science of the solar system, and the rough ride I've been getting recently.

Best of all, he's sympathetic to my cause and gives me credit for my planety features: I'm big enough for my own gravity to make me round and I have an atmosphere.

Still, one positive portrayal can't make up for all the criticism I get from Earth. I may be on the small side, but is that any reason to pick on me? Compared to Jupiter, you're small too, Earth! You say I can't be in the planet club because I haven't cleared my orbit of other objects.

Ok, sure, Neptune does cross my path from time to time. But look at all the asteroids in Earth's neighbourhood. I heard one of them crashed into you just the other day, and I hope it hit you in the eye!

If you're looking for an object that doesn't fit in, take a look in the mirror, Earth. You're the only solar system body whose surface is covered in liquid water. And you have a huge concentration of oxygen in your atmosphere - way more than any other solar system body.

While we're at it, let's talk about longevity, a topic I'm glad to see Boyle raises in his book. When the sun goes red giant in a few billion years, guess who's going to get burned to a crisp? That would be you, Earth. Meanwhile, I'll still be out here, keeping it real.

Planetarily yours,

Pluto (as told to David Shiga)

Holy Crap!!: Asteroid Detonates Above Indonesia and No One Saw It

Did you know on October 8th, 2009 an asteroid exploded, releasing about 3x the energy of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, high in the atmosphere above Indonesia?

No? It's because literally no one saw it coming.

About 15-20 kilometers into the atmosphere, the explosion caused no damage on Earth, but witnesses could see a dust trail consistent with asteroid explosion. Nuclear explosion instruments around the world picked up the infrasound waves that resulted from the release of energy. The object is estimated to be about 10 meters across, as calculated by its energy output. No telescope saw it and that typically telescopes don't normally pick up objects less than a 100meters across-- only a small fraction of cataloged objects fit this description. However, it can take as little as 20-30 meter diameter object to cause major damage on Earth.

Ultimately, in order to find smaller objects we have to build larger, more powerful telescopes--a multibillion dollar endeavor. I think I'd rather spend a billion plus dollars than get squashed by a giant flying rock.

I'd Rather It Rain Men Than Rocks

In a galaxy far, far, away....there lies an exoplanet COROT-7b, which is 5x the mass of Earth and twice as large.

COROT-7b is a rocky planet like Earth and calculations show its density is also comparable to ours, meaning that it is most likely made of silicate rock's like the Earth's crust. However, this planet is only 1.6mil miles from its sun, 23x closer than Mercury is to our sun. And as you can imagine, it can get pretty hot. Hot enough to vaporize rocks.

Using a computer model, researchers hypothesized the planet's atmospheric make up. COROT-7b most likely has an atmosphere of rock clouds or rock ingredients such as oxygen, potassium and silicon monoxide. They figured that as the vapors cool, it forms pebbles of solidified minerals and rain down into molten lava oceans.

WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE: "Space radiation hits record high"

Space is filled with crazy crap, both real and theoretical, that can kill us. Whether it be asteroids, aliens or the possibility of the universe collapsing on itself (seriously), a lot of things are out of our control.

One real problem is space radiation. NASA has a particularly huge problem with the radiation reeking havoc on electrical equipment, ruining future and current space missions. With us humans, it can mutate DNA, causing cancer (this pretty much happens with skin cancer). However, we are shielded by magnetic fields, which....are failing.

For some reason, there has been an increase of about 19% in incoming cosmic rays (we don't know where these rays come from exactly).

The sun's own shield protects the solar system and is spread outwards by solar winds. However, we are at the low point of the sun's 11-yr magnetic activity which weakens the shield and on top of that, the pressure driving the winds are at a 50-yr low.

The influx of rays coupled with the sun slacking results with us baking a little bit more intensely in radiation galore. What does that mean for the climate here? I'm not necessarily sure, but I'm definitely investing in some SPF 100.

Plutophiles UNITE!

From CNN.com: What's a planet? Debate rages on.

It's been almost three years that the International Astronomical Union declared Pluto a "dwarf planet" causing a ringing heard around the world from people's heads exploding.

Pluto? NOT A PLANET? How am I supposed to finish the saying 'My Eager Mother Just Baked Us Nine'...whats?? (For those of you who didn't the luck of learning this, its to remember the planets in order.)

Although most of us grudgingly accepted this fate, (I mean who are we to argue with the IAU?!) there are people who demand Pluto be recognized to its full potential. Examples include Illinois' senate "adopted a resolution" saying that the celestial body was "unfairly downgraded" and declared March 13th Pluto Day. Why do they care? Because an Illinoian (Illinoisian? Illinoist?) discovered it back in the day.

New Mexico also seems equally distraught, with it's House of Reps calling February 18th 2009 "Pluto is a Planet in New Mexico Day." (The Illinoian discoverer had worked in New Mexico for a long time).

In general Americans seem quite pissed about the IAU's decision with 90% of its criticisms coming from us. A theory on why that is from one astrophysicist is basically that we like icy balls.

"Disney's dog Pluto was sketched the same year the cosmic object was discovered. And Pluto was discovered by an American. So here you have a recipe for Americans falling in love with a planet that really is just a tiny ice ball," Tyson told Time magazine.


There still is debate on the IAU's classification of a planet (must orbit the sun, must be crushed into almost spherical shape by gravity due to its size and must not have anything orbiting its space) and if/how Pluto can be better defined.

Jupiter Got Bitch Slapped

Read the article here.


NASA has taken the sharpest picture of a scar on Jupiter left over from a collision on July 19th with the Hubble Space Telescope. The object is hypothesized to be either an asteroid or comet that broke up in the atmosphere.

The diameter of the object is guessed to be "the size of several football fields" and the force of explosion was thousands of times the strength of the Tunguska River Valley explosion of 1908.

(For perspective, the Tuguska event is theorized to have been caused by a comet or asteroid that exploded several miles above the Earth causing a massive airburst. The explosion was guessed to be 1000x more powerful than the atom bomb on Hiroshima. Trees within 830 square miles were knocked completely down. )

Moral of the story: Something real mother truckin HUGE hit Jupiter. I think it was Pluto sending out a hit on all the planets. Look out Earth.