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

[ljk4-1]

For what this is worth, Sky & Telescope is now including 2003 UB313
in its online section "This Week's Planet Roundup" right after Pluto:

2003 UB313 (magnitude 19, in Cetus) is getting low in the southwest after dark. This is the "tenth planet" discovered last year; see our articles on its discovery and on the finding of its moon. Advanced amateurs with good CCD setups have been imaging 2003 UB313 and tracking its motion. The discovery team is informally calling the object and its moon Xena and Gabrielle, for the TV warrior princess and her longtime companion. The official names they will get are still tied up in committees of the International Astronomical Union. According to the February 1st Nature, "Xena" is unquestionably larger than Pluto: 3,000 kilometers in diameter compared to Pluto's 2,300.

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/atagl...ticle_110_1.asp

[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

[punkboi]

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

More sensational and also more fun:

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

I thought heaven was on Venus. According to Scientologists.

Oh wait, the leader supposedly came on a spaceship from Venus. Now, I'm confused.

[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.

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

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 

I hope that isn't the same one Lovecraft was talking about...

[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

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

If they declare Pluto a planet but 2003 UB313 a non-planet -- a proposal I have heard seriously made by one member -- I am officially going to give up on Western civilization.

[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?

[tty]

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

Reminds me of an episode in the old "B C" comic strip. Curls, the local philosopher is preaching reincarnation, and explains that everything will be reborn in a higher form.

"Then what are humans reborn as?"

[brief silence]

"Money, I suppose"

tty

[Katie]

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.

It's not true.

I'm a life long Mormon but until you posted it here I'd never heard anything about Heaven being a space planet. I know it sounds entertaining but the truth is Mormons believe the same creation story as most Christians found in genesis and that Heaven is a spiritual plane of existance rather than a planet. Sorry if I crushed anyone's beliefs of us as crazy space people.

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

Being a single woman I don't get a planet. Probably my biggest issue with the mormon church is how they treat single people.

I was born in 1980 so I guess I got lucky and missed the Donny and Marie show. My dad always called it the Donny and Mafreak show. Not sure why.

[ljk4-1]

Being a single woman I don't get a planet. Probably my biggest issue with the mormon church is how they treat single people.

I was born in 1980 so I guess I got lucky and missed the Donny and Marie show. My dad always called it the Donny and Mafreak show. Not sure why.

That is deeply unfair. You have every right to be a goddess as much as the next Mormon female - or non-Mormon female, for that matter.

If you can, track down a few episodes of Donny and Marie. You will fully understand the reactions of your father and myself after watching them, trust me.

[Bob Shaw]

That is deeply unfair. You have every right to be a goddess as much as the next Mormon female - or non-Mormon female, for that matter.

If you can, track down a few episodes of Donny and Marie. You will fully understand the reactions of your father and myself after watching them, trust me.

No! No! Not the white, shiny teeth! And Jimmy, the poisoned dwarf Osmond...

...when I read about 'heaven' being a *real* planet I could go to, I nearly joined up on the spot, but if it's just that spiritual malarkey then I'll stick with the Old Deep Ones, thanks. You know where you stand with unspeakable evil from the depths of space and time, which is basically in the queue to be eaten.

Aiiii!

Bob Shaw

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Actually, it's kind of flattering that the Great Old Ones (did Lovecraft ever realize that the acronym was "GOO"?) consider us tasty enough to be eaten. Great Cthulhu seems to have considered us a positive delicacy -- you know how hard it is to stop after just one human...

[Bob Shaw]

Actually, it's kind of flattering that the Great Old Ones (did Lovecraft ever realize that the acronym was "GOO"?) consider us tasty enough to be eaten. Great Cthulhu seems to have considered us a positive delicacy -- you know how hard it is to stop after just one human...

Bruce:

Er, not personally, never been able to finish a whole one. Is there something you're trying to tell us?

Hmm...

Bob Shaw