"surprise discovery" in the outer Solar System |
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"surprise discovery" in the outer Solar System |
 Mar 25 2014, 03:42 PM
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#1
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 Senior Member  Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004  |
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Mar 25 2014, 05:42 PM
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#2
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
Great! Just 24 hours left to play "What would you like it to be?"
My choice would be an object on a hyperbolic orbit. Anybody else?? |
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Mar 25 2014, 06:24 PM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
QUOTE (ngunn @ Mar 25 2014, 06:42 PM)  My choice would be an object on a hyperbolic orbit. Followed by another two?  link |
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Mar 25 2014, 06:33 PM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2346 Joined: 7-December 12 Member No.: 6780 |
Quite a list. Just to mention a couple of them:
What I don't like it to be:
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Mar 25 2014, 06:48 PM
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#5
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1729 Joined: 3-August 06 From: 43° 35' 53" N 1° 26' 35" E Member No.: 1004 |
detection of the first Oort cloud object. or a better determination of the radius of Pluto. but neither would be a surprise
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Mar 25 2014, 09:16 PM
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#6
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 699 Joined: 3-December 04 From: Boulder, Colorado, USA Member No.: 117 |
I heard a rumor, which if substantiated, makes this the weirdest bit of planetary news I've heard this year so far. Stay tuned…
John |
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Mar 25 2014, 09:47 PM
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#7
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
For those of us in the U.S., BRT (Brazillian time) is one hour ahead of EDT. The presser is supposed to be at 2:30pm BRT, so it will be at 1:30pm EDT, 12:30pm CDT, 11:30am MDT and 10:30am PDT. That works out to 5:30pm UTC, for those of you across the pond.
-the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Mar 25 2014, 10:20 PM
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#8
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2082 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Well, it's on Wikipedia so the centaur is out of the bag, if I may put it. I dunno how much to say, except that a new mission might be in order...
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Mar 25 2014, 10:25 PM
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#9
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
OK the wish lists were interesting, now the guesswork.
Many telescopes in one continent suggests observations of a stellar occultation, so a size determination seems likely (though a weird shape cannot be ruled out). They are using large telescopes but not the largest, which also makes sense if it's an occultation because then the faintness of the object itself does not come into play. Occultations have to be predicted for a concerted progamme of observations to be mounted so I don't think this is a new object. Why might a size be surprising? One reason could be that we already know the mass, and the measured size implies a surprising density. Maybe they've found a metallic KBO. |
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Mar 25 2014, 10:33 PM
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#10
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2082 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
You're getting warmer ngunn... Want a few more hints?
You're right that occultations were involved, but its not something new in the Kuiper belt... This feels like a game of twenty questions, hehe.  I could just send you a PM too, if you can't resist... |
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Mar 25 2014, 10:44 PM
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#11
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
Thanks, but no. I'm happy to wait. What's a day between friends?
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Mar 26 2014, 12:11 AM
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#12
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 903 Joined: 30-January 05 Member No.: 162 |
Secondary occultation(s) ??
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Mar 26 2014, 12:32 AM
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#13
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2346 Joined: 7-December 12 Member No.: 6780 |
QUOTE (Explorer1 @ Mar 25 2014, 11:20 PM) Well, it's on Wikipedia so the centaur is out of the bag, if I may put it. I dunno how much to say, except that a new mission might be in order... The news has been deleted (temporarily?) from Wikipedia due to the embargo. |
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Mar 26 2014, 12:38 AM
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#14
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2920 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
Soccer Wold Cup will be in Brasil this year...but that's inner solar systen, isn't it?
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Mar 26 2014, 01:48 AM
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#15
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2082 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
Alan Stern has a few more details:
https://twitter.com/NewHorizons2015 |
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