Space: The Final Frontier



Space has always fascinated me, and it always will. There seems no end to its depths, its expansion, and its ability to free the mind to think literally whatever. It is space that allows our minds to be freed, and to dream that anything is possible. Space is the unknown, it is everything and anything we want it to be. In the end ... we just have no clue about it, and that is what I love.

I want this thread to be dedicated to space ... images ... news ... aliens ... new stars ... new planets ... is there life? ... whatever interests YOU about space.

Speaking of space ... my favorite space movie:



I love space ... whos with me!

I guess we have the same interests.

They say they're taking pluto out as one of the planets.
plus hubbles no longer gonna get repaired.
sad

I heard about that, too. It's essentially just a block of ice, right? I guess it makes sense to not call it a planet in that case...

I have heard both ways on this ...

They recently found a huge mass that orbits in a way that it could be considered a new planet. It is beyond Pluto and about 3/4ths Pluto's size. As for taking Pluto out as a planet ... wont be happening any time soon. A probe is set to reach Pluto in about 10 years ... we should know more then.

And the thing about Hubble is to bad. That thing has been so important for so long.

Yeah, I started a thread here on the touch-down on Saturn's moon. I've known for quite along time the discussion that pluto is just an exceptionally large asteroid or one of Saturn's old moons, that apparently got stuck in gravitational pull. It has the most irratic of the paths, and I forget, but does it even have any of its own moons? I think one, but since I don't really know what NASA is considering the true distinction between a planet and a large asteroid/ex-moon with its own planetary year,, I would keep it. Does it have to do with having a gravitational pull in its core? I have no idea.

The worst thing about space exploration is the amount of patience it takes. I mean, it's pretty likely that once the probe reaches Pluto it'll crash land or miss the mark entirely and we'll have to wait another ten years for another probe to do the exact same thing.

Every single object no matter how small has a gravitational pull. Even the smallest of molecules. The bigger the object the bigger the gravitational pull. That is why huge objects such as the sun cause things to orbit around it.

Pluto itself is very small, smaller infact than earths moon, and while it is probably NOT a moon from saturn, it could very well be the remnants of an early universe collision between two large masses or between Saturn and a comet. It has a very odd orbital plane as well .... think of Saturns ring:



The ring would be the orbital plane of most of the planets revolving around the sun ... Pluto however is not horizontal .... it would be slanted ... going way UP then way DOWN and doing a big up and down orbit around saturn passing through the normal plane each time. Also its orbit is an elipse ... meaning that it is not shaped like an O rather it is longer and stretched out. While this is true for all planets ... it is much moreso for Pluto whos orbit goes WAYYYYY out.


Pluto is spherical in nature unlike most other objects. It has an atmosphere, and has seasons. It rotates, and while it is deffinatly an oddity ... I strongly consider it a planet.

As for the Pluto Probe ... It is not one that has to land ... rather just orbit around Pluto, take pictures and will be able to get a better idea of the planet. It will then likely be ejected out into the great beyond and head for the edge of our solar system. I am almost positive it is not landing on Pluto ... could be wrong. Even if it did ... Pluto has much less of an atmosphere and is very rocky ... sucess of that mission would have a much greater chance.

Awesome stuff, Eagle. This thread is like a science class, and I mean that in a positive way.

Well, Pluto already lost its status as a planet in some planetariums?

trivia: at this moment, whats the furthest planet from the sun in this solar system?

Uh? Uranus? I know their paths cross once in awhile, I just have no idea when.

Oh, did anyone else grow up reading the National Geographic "Our Universe," book?



It was so good. Veyr colorful and fun, etc. It also had these great little pictures of the Roman/Greek dieties that each planet is named after. I taught myself to draw from those images actually. I must have been still in the single digits, maybe 10. I can remember reading it from front to back so many times the binding came apart, and we had to fold the pages back into place carefully when ever we read through it.

Anyone know which book it is I'm talking about? it had many excellent photos and diagrams, and I bet is sitting somewhere collecting dust in every American household's basement or attic.

Neptune!!?

And it has only been removed by a few Baba ... the majority of the world consideres it a planet.

Yup. Its still neptune. Its path crossed with Pluto long time ago. I better check up on when they cross back.

do planets all spin in the same alignment? Or are they like above or below each other as well, just distanced out ... something i never checked up on.

All planets are not in the same alignment ... nor do they all spin the same direction ... some planets spin backwards!

i believe thats just 1. And I always forget which one it is. Its either Venus, Uranus (though i think uranus is actually inclined at over a 90 degree angle, not spinning backwards). I'll go with Venus for $400 please.

To be honest ... I would have to look to see which ones spin backwards ...

You are right on Venus though ... it's Axis is tilted and it spins backward (thought to be caused by a huge impact of some kind) but their are other planets as well that spin backwards ... I am pretty sure Uranus is one ... possibly Pluto and Neptune ... but I would have to check.

not sure if uranus, pluto and neptune spin backwards.

anyhoo, this was spotted as one of the first space images ever!

Just a few million years ago!

Look at those plates though.

Bacteria needs more than just heat though? That and it requires Volcanic heat to melt the ice, so I doubt sun-light would be warm enough.

Once space travel drops a bit in price, I would like to take a trip.

Have they actually found small amounts of life on Mars? I heard somewhere that they did...

It's Uranus and Venus that are retrograde, IIRC.

I love astronomy and the stars. (I'm a major closet Trekkie).

Before I die, I most certianly plan on taking a flight on Virgin InterGalactic or whatever it's called. Heh.

Oh, and does anybody know anything about that rumored planet further off from Pluto? I heard from my Chemistry teacher than they may have found another, but I haven't seen any offical stories or anything.

I read something a few days ago about scientists discovering a "Runaway Star". From what I remember, it's a star that somehow orbited a black hole and some sort of slingshot effect occured, "shooting" the star away from the black hole at an incredibly high speed (Although I don't understand how anything can orbit a black hole)

Apparently, scientists had proven a few years ago that runaway stars must exist, but this the first time that one was actually discovered.

Yes. I will see if i can find an article for you Zach. They deffinatly found a large mass farther out than Pluto. I don't remember much about its orbit, but it is about 3/4th the size of pluto. There is no way it will ever be called a planet, but it is deffinatly big.

What happened was something like this:

You had 2 stars which orbited each other. So Imagine them circling around each other constantly ... think if you and a sibling held hands and started spinning.

They were near a growing black hole and had been drifting closer and closer. A black hole acts alot like a drain in your shower. It sucks everything in, and large masses will spin around the side, going quicker and quicker until they descend into the middle.

In this case it was the fact that these stars orbited around each other that caused the slingshot effect. As they circled the Black hole (think a ship in a whilpool) they got faster and faster, all the while still circling each other. The fact that they were dealing with two gravitational pulls, one to each other and one to the black hole, was intense enough to create enough centrifugal force and enough speed to totally break free of the gravitational pull and just zoom out so fast that it is impossible to watch it exit the black hole. It was going so fast ... infact it is probablly the fastest anything has ever gone in the history of the universe peroid.

The other star was unfourtunatly fucked ... and died in the black hole ... the twins were seperated ... one died to save the other.

Much thanks. :wink: