Pluto Hasn't Orbited the Sun Since Its Discovery

Started by SGOS, May 28, 2015, 12:10:55 PM

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SGOS

May 28, 2015, 12:10:55 PM
According to Ripley's, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and will not complete its first orbit (since being discovered) until 2178.  Now that I've typed this Ripley fact, I'm thinking it shouldn't be that surprising.  I think I remember hearing Pluto's trip around the sun takes about 250 years.  I guess it's the way Ripley presented it that it strikes me as astounding.

Mike Cl

#1
May 28, 2015, 12:23:41 PM
Quote from: SGOS on May 28, 2015, 12:10:55 PM
According to Ripley's, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and will not complete its first orbit (since being discovered) until 2178.  Now that I've typed this Ripley fact, I'm thinking it shouldn't be that surprising.  I think I remember hearing Pluto's trip around the sun takes about 250 years.  I guess it's the way Ripley presented it that it strikes me as astounding.
Yeah, that is astounding.  But Pluto is not a planet now, so who cares????  It is also astounding that Pluto has two moons. The Earth has only one.  So why did Earth get so uppity and exclude Pluto from the family of planets???!  I understand that Mickey Mouse is mighty upset!
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

SGOS

#2
May 28, 2015, 12:39:25 PM
Quote from: Mike Cl on May 28, 2015, 12:23:41 PM
Yeah, that is astounding.  But Pluto is not a planet now, so who cares???? 

LOL  Yeah, it's just a chunk of debris floating around without any purpose.  You've got to wonder why God created the stupid thing.

Quote from: Mike Cl on May 28, 2015, 12:23:41 PM
It is also astounding that Pluto has two moons. The Earth has only one.  So why did Earth get so uppity

I dunno.  We're third from the sun.  Third is like in-between winning and losing.  What's so impressive about that?  Compared to the gas giants, to an outsider, we're just "that other planet," and no one ever remembers its name.

Mike Cl

#3
May 28, 2015, 01:32:01 PM
Quote from: SGOS on May 28, 2015, 12:39:25 PM
LOL  Yeah, it's just a chunk of debris floating around without any purpose.  You've got to wonder why God created the stupid thing.

I dunno.  We're third from the sun.  Third is like in-between winning and losing.  What's so impressive about that?  Compared to the gas giants, to an outsider, we're just "that other planet," and no one ever remembers its name.
Just being a little facetious.  I guess Pluto is more like an asteroid than a  planet because of it's orbit--irregular and all that. 
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

drunkenshoe

#4
May 28, 2015, 01:57:27 PM
But loooook at him. Isn't he cute?

"science is not about building a body of known 'facts'. ıt is a method for asking awkward questions and subjecting them to a reality-check, thus avoiding the human tendency to believe whatever makes us feel good." - tp

SGOS

#5
May 28, 2015, 02:44:25 PM
Quote from: drunkenshoe on May 28, 2015, 01:57:27 PM
But loooook at him. Isn't he cute?



It looks like something a spider hatched.

SGOS

#6
May 28, 2015, 02:46:09 PM
Here's another fact about Pluto.  It contains more water than all of Earth's oceans.  One third of it is ice.

drunkenshoe

#7
May 28, 2015, 02:57:12 PM
Quote from: SGOS on May 28, 2015, 02:44:25 PM
It looks like something a spider hatched.

Well, that's cute. Sort of.
"science is not about building a body of known 'facts'. ıt is a method for asking awkward questions and subjecting them to a reality-check, thus avoiding the human tendency to believe whatever makes us feel good." - tp

Hydra009

#8
May 28, 2015, 03:11:34 PM
Quote from: Mike Cl on May 28, 2015, 12:23:41 PMIt is also astounding that Pluto has two moons. The Earth has only one.
Pluto has 5 known moons:  Charon, Nix, Kereberos, Styx, and yours truly, Hydra.

Quote from: Mike Cl on May 28, 2015, 01:32:01 PMJust being a little facetious.  I guess Pluto is more like an asteroid than a  planet because of it's orbit--irregular and all that.
It is tiny, but mostly, it's the clearing the neighborhood criterion.

Atheon

#9
May 28, 2015, 04:00:30 PM
Quote from: Mike Cl on May 28, 2015, 12:23:41 PMIt is also astounding that Pluto has two moons.
Pluto has five known moons.

As for what Pluto looks like, here is the best photo available yet. (They will only get better over the next several weeks!)


"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful." - Seneca

TomFoolery

#10
May 28, 2015, 04:33:48 PM
Pluto also has a crazy orbit that doesn't even closely resemble that model you made in third grade science class.

How can you be sure my refusal to agree with your claim a symptom of my ignorance and not yours?

Mike Cl

#11
May 28, 2015, 05:52:39 PM
Quote from: Hydra009 on May 28, 2015, 03:11:34 PM
Pluto has 5 known moons:  Charon, Nix, Kereberos, Styx, and yours truly, Hydra.
Damn!  I really am behind the times.  I thought it had only 2 moons and that they orbited each other as they orbited Pluto.  I guess that is what I get for thinking. :)
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?<br />Then he is not omnipotent,<br />Is he able but not willing?<br />Then whence cometh evil?<br />Is he neither able or willing?<br />Then why call him god?

trdsf

#12
May 29, 2015, 01:25:32 AM
Quote from: SGOS on May 28, 2015, 12:10:55 PM
According to Ripley's, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and will not complete its first orbit (since being discovered) until 2178.  Now that I've typed this Ripley fact, I'm thinking it shouldn't be that surprising.  I think I remember hearing Pluto's trip around the sun takes about 250 years.  I guess it's the way Ripley presented it that it strikes me as astounding.

And Neptune only recently finished its first full orbit on 12 July 2011 since its discovery.

I am so amped about New Horizons.  I can't wait to see what's out there.  :D

Meanwhile, I think I'll start celebrating my birthday in Martian years.  I'll only be 28 on my next one.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total, and I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution." -- Barbara Jordan

SGOS

#13
May 29, 2015, 07:24:37 AM Last Edit: May 29, 2015, 07:27:54 AM by SGOS
Quote from: trdsf on May 29, 2015, 01:25:32 AM
I am so amped about New Horizons.  I can't wait to see what's out there.  :D
This is amazing stuff, isn't it?  It's one of those awesome things that awakens a kind of joy and appreciation in many of us.  Exploring but a small part of the wondrous universe; How can this not create a sense of humility, while at the same time, it becomes a testimony to man's aptitude to explore and learn?  In contrast, back here on earth, religious fanatics are murdering each other trying to force their will, and the Pope's Cardinal in Ireland is in a snit over allowing gays to marry.

One thing I'd like to see from New Horizons when it passes Pluto, is a photograph of the Sun.  I'm expecting basically just a night sky filled with stars and an arrow pointing to one of them identifying it as our Sun.

AllPurposeAtheist

#14
May 29, 2015, 07:48:35 PM
. 
QuoteI can't wait to see what's out there.

That's my dad's take on religion. .
"There's something out there. "

Hmmmmm... :think:
All hail my new signature!

Admit it. You're secretly green with envy.
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