270 planets and counting

[linus]

Apparently, there are lots of earth-like planets out there. This is the type of earth-shattering scientific discoveries that usually flies under the radar.

http://technology.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/news/contentposting?newsitemid=exoplanets-trio&feedname=cbc-tech-science-v3&show=false&number=10&showbyline=true&subtitle=& detect=&abc=abc&date=true&pagenumber=1

[West End Zuma]

270 planets and counting

Did you know that Paul Rogers of Queen is a PhD in Astrophysics. He's quite an enthusiast. His specialty is studying intergalactic dust and it's role in creating solar systems and life and everything. That's a pretty cool side project. He sometime appears on the TV show The Stars at Night, I think it's called.

[G-Man]

270 planets and counting

I have a friend who is some sort of space scientist. He was on the panel which decided to demote Pluto. I think that is very cool indeed, having such Geek Power to tell a planet it isn't a planet anymore.

[Stumpy Pepys]

270 planets and counting

It's all a bit pointless though, isn't it? A planet is a cultural construct rather than anything that can be distinguished empirically. Like arguing about angels on the head of a pin.

[Mumpo]

270 planets and counting

He is not 'Paul Rodgers of Queen'. They perform as 'Paul Rodgers and Queen'.

[Pinback]

270 planets and counting

I don't think you'd call it a cultural concept, Stumpy. It's a jargon term

Pluto is no longer a termed a planet because it far more closely resembles one of the (thought to be) 70,000 or more Kuiper belt objects than it does the rest of the planets.

[West End Zuma]

270 planets and counting

I stand corrected then.

I think the whole notion of habitable life-supporting planets spinning around in an infinite universe of billions of galaxies is marvelously, incomprehensibly, awesomely totally improbable. The idea of a planet much like this one but with a triple moon and double sundowns that last for hours is quite simply amazing to imagine. In my mind it's a beautiful thing. Of course somebody's bound to muck it up with car alarms and billboards.

It makes me wonder who built it all and if it's copywritten.

[Stumpy Pepys]

270 planets and counting

What I mean is that there's no consistent definition whereby you can say 'this is a planet' and 'this is not a planet'. Wherever you move the goalposts, you can always say: "Well, what about X?"

[Pinback]

270 planets and counting

Well they've only moved the goalposts because we can see it better now. It looked a lot bigger before, and until recently there weren't other visible objects it more closely resembled.

[Stumpy Pepys]

270 planets and counting

No, they've redefined the definition of a planet in an arbitrary way that gives our solar system eight planets. Except they're still bickering over it and may redefine this definition with the result that there'll be more than this number.

Bit silly really.

[tracteurgarcon]

270 planets and counting

infinite probability wrote:

Did you know that Paul Rogers of Queen is a PhD in Astrophysics. He's quite an enthusiast. His specialty is studying intergalactic dust and it's role in creating solar systems and life and everything. That's a pretty cool side project. He sometime appears on the TV show The Stars at Night, I think it's called.

Brian May recently finished a degree in astronomy didn't he?

He also appears on "The Sky at Night" with Patrick Moore from time to time.

[G-Man]

270 planets and counting

Does he say things like: "Seemingly there is no reason for these extraordinary intergalactical upsets."

[Stumpy Pepys]

270 planets and counting

Maybe Moore's gone soft in the head and thinks he's appearing alongside Isaac Newton.

[hobbes]

270 planets and counting

It makes me wonder who built it all

Oh don't start.

Well they've only moved the goalposts because we can see it better now. It looked a lot bigger before, and until recently there weren't other visible objects it more closely resembled.

No, they've redefined the definition of a planet in an arbitrary way that gives our solar system eight planets

How the fuck else are you suppsoed to do it but arbitrarily?
there are bikes and trucks. They both move in a similar way, but there's a significant difference. One is one thing, one is another. From a distance something looks like a car. When we see it better, we realise actually it's a bike. Like lots of other bikes we can now see, but not anything like a car. Do you see?
It's no more a cultural thing than a star being a star or a shoe not being a hang-glider.

[Gangster Octopus]

270 planets and counting

tratorello wrote:

infinite probability wrote:

Did you know that Paul Rogers of Queen is a PhD in Astrophysics. He's quite an enthusiast. His specialty is studying intergalactic dust and it's role in creating solar systems and life and everything. That's a pretty cool side project. He sometime appears on the TV show The Stars at Night, I think it's called.

Brian May recently finished a degree in astronomy didn't he?

He also appears on "The Sky at Night" with Patrick Moore from time to time.

I wondered if anyone was going to take the bait...

[Stumpy Pepys]

270 planets and counting

hobbes wrote:

How the fuck else are you suppsoed to do it but arbitrarily?
there are bikes and trucks. They both move in a similar way, but there's a significant difference. One is one thing, one is another. From a distance something looks like a car. When we see it better, we realise actually it's a bike. Like lots of other bikes we can now see, but not anything like a car. Do you see?
It's no more a cultural thing than a star being a star or a shoe not being a hang-glider.

Well, go one then, let's test your hypothesis. Give us your common sense definition of a planet and we'll test how useful it is.

[tracteurgarcon]

270 planets and counting

Gangster Octopus wrote:

tratorello wrote:

infinite probability wrote:

Did you know that Paul Rogers of Queen is a PhD in Astrophysics. He's quite an enthusiast. His specialty is studying intergalactic dust and it's role in creating solar systems and life and everything. That's a pretty cool side project. He sometime appears on the TV show The Stars at Night, I think it's called.

Brian May recently finished a degree in astronomy didn't he?

He also appears on "The Sky at Night" with Patrick Moore from time to time.

I wondered if anyone was going to take the bait...

I did wonder if it was some sort of joke that I just wasn't getting.

[West End Zuma]

270 planets and counting

I stand corrected thrice, and told not to start once. Don't mind me, I'll just quietly gaze at the stars and wonder, then.