2003 Ub 313: The Incredible Shrinking Planet?, No bigger than Pluto? Options

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

(Thanks to Emily Lakdawalla):

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/127/1

[Big_Gazza]

I have heard a rumour that one of the Mormons secret beliefs is that Heaven is not on another plane of existance but is on a hidden planet past the orbit of Pluto. Yeah, I know sounds kinda wierd, but who am I to judge

Anyway, with 2003 UB313 being discovered, what is the opinion of the good folks from Salt Lake City? At least they can have the certainty of knowing they have somewhere to go, though I don't think they need to pack sunglasses and tanning lotion. A nice warm jacket might be well advised.

[JRehling]

I have heard a rumour that one of the Mormons secret beliefs is that Heaven is not on another plane of existance but is on a hidden planet past the orbit of Pluto. Yeah, I know sounds kinda wierd, but who am I to judge 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob

More sensational and also more fun:

http://nowscape.com/mormon/mormons5.htm

[Katie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolob

More sensational and also more fun:

http://nowscape.com/mormon/mormons5.htm

I've been Mormon my whole life and I must say I never heard any of that.

I always sorta figured Kolob was more a figurative place than a literal one. Well that's what I always figured anyway.

They apparently keep the crazy space travel beliefs of the early Mormons out of church these days but still I laughed when reading that second link.

I hate to disappoint people but most of that stuff is no longer taught in the church and whether it was truly official Mormon doctrine at one time I really don't know.

Only a few things on there are legitamately true and official Mormon doctrine to the best of my knowledge. However Mormons truly do believe there are other earth-like planets inhabited by humans. As for the other stuff about space aliens impregnanting women well I never heard that.

I personally don't believe that Kolob is a real physical place that a space craft could go to and I have never heard it preached that way. But I think that site was meant to be funny and not true.

[ljk4-1]

I like the idea that when you die you get to evolve into higher and higher levels of beings until you can become the God of your very own Universe! Kinda like moderating a forum, I bet, only with a few extra perks.

But the whole not drinking coffee and listening to the Osmonds thing - I'm still traumatized by the Donny and Marie Show from the 1970s.

http://www.timewarptv.com/Default.aspx?tabid=143

[ljk4-1]

Looks a lot like Europa!


UB 313: Larger than Pluto

Illustration Credit & Copyright: Thierry Lombry

Explanation: What do you call an outer Solar System object that is larger than Pluto? Nobody is yet sure. The question arose recently when 2003 UB313, an object currently twice as far out as Pluto and not in the plane with the rest of the planets, was verified recently to be 30 percent wider than Pluto. UB313's size was measured by a noting its distance from the Sun and how much infrared light it emits. Previous size estimates were based only on visible light and greatly affected by how reflective the object is.

Whether 2003 UB313 is officially declared a planet will be answered shortly by the International Astronomical Union. In the above picture, a scientific artist has imagined UB313 in its distant orbit around the Sun coupled with a hypothetical moon.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060207.html

[David]

In the above picture, a scientific artist has imagined UB313 in its distant orbit around the Sun coupled with a hypothetical moon.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060207.html

That would have to be an incredibly long-distance zoom shot to get the sun that size -- at the distance 2003 UB313 is, the sun ought to be tiny. And where does the back-illumination that's brightening the back side of "Xena" (but not, curiously, "Gabrielle") come from?