JCC The All-New, All-Different JCC Astronomy Thread

New dwarf planet, nicknamed "the Goblin"



It's 80 AU away (Pluto is 34 AU, Earth is 1 AU).

https://www.yahoo.com/news/new-dwar...ge-solar-system-something-else-142532714.html

 

It is a bit confusing as the article says it was discovered about 80AU from the sun, but surely 80 AU is it's orbit's closest proximity to the Sun, not the actual distance from the Sun that the dwarf planet is right now. If that picture is accurate then it is almost at it's furthest point from the Sun at this time and is several thousand AUs away.

 

Are these orbits stable, or is it possible that the Goblin could get flung out into deep space at any time? Or do we just not know because it's probably been out there for longer than we've existed?

 

Much better info on The Goblin here.
https://www.space.com/41995-dwarf-planet-the-goblin-discovery-planet-nine.html

So discovered at 80 AU, with an orbit that goes 65 AU at its nearest to the Sun, and around 2300 AU at its furthest point, taking 40,000 years to orbit once.

 

A comet will pass within 11.5 million kilometers of Earth during the holidays

 

BepiColombo is on its way to Mercury! It’ll take several years to arrive due to a circuitous route the probe is traversing but here’s hoping for great science once it arrives at the 2nd hottest planet. Trivia question: what planet is the hottest and why?

Meanwhile NASA is entertaining a proposal to send a balloon to orbit Venus at altitudes where conditions are very much like Earth’s surface in terms of pressure, temperature and even (possibly) breathable air! The aerostat would likely be equipped with detachable probes for peering below the cloud deck to take observations on the hellish surface.


A more difficult trivia question (if you want more challenging ones let me know): Outside of Pluto and Charon (because the jury is still out), of the geologically active bodies in our Solar System, which is furthest from the Sun?

 

Venus is the hottest due to a runaway greenhouse effect and high pressure, about 90 times more than Earth.

Geologically active? I think a couple of Saturn's moons are.

 

Correct regarding Venus!

Incorrect on the 2nd one. Anyone?

The thick clouds on Venus keeps enough heat from reflecting out to space that you’re right, it gets pretty toasty on the surface.

 

That must be Neptune's backward moon Triton, which has ice volcanoes. Believed to be a captured dwarf planet, it is very similar to Pluto.

I 'm up for some more difficult ones

 

Happily this is not pointed at us

A star 8,000 light years from Earth is on the verge of a huge supernova explosion, which could produce the Milky Way’s first gamma-ray explosion, a dangerous and extremely energetic event.
Australian scientists at the University of Sydney discovered the rare ‘God of chaos’ star, which they say could produce the Milky Way’s first known gamma-ray burst, a lethal combination of dust and gas mixed with wind as fast as 12 million km/ph, which is one of the most extreme energetic events after the Big Bang.

 

Is it really about to go supernova, or did it go supernova 8000 years ago?

 

Both.

 

BTW, as I pointed out earlier there should be a comet visible for the next couple of weeks.

 

STAR WARS



This picture shows the binary system R Aquarii, a red giant throwing off its outer envelope, which is being greedily cannibalised by its companion, a much smaller, denser white dwarf.

The dramatic moment you're looking at unfolded just 650 light-years from Earth – practically right next door in astronomical terms, which is why astronomers have a keen interest in the event.

 

That's only 200 parsecs away!

 

Farout

This extreme trans-Neptunian object is about 120 astronomical units (AU) from Earth, where 1 AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun (about 92 million miles, or 149 million kilometers). Farout is so far out that light from the Sun takes 16 hours and 40 minutes to travel the 11-billion-mile (18-billion-kilometer) distance.

“Based on its brightness and distance, it is likely about 500 to 600 km (310 to 372 miles) in diameter. At this size, gravity will dominate over any material strength the object might have, and thus it should be spherical in shape,” said Sheppard. “This would make it a dwarf planet. The color of the object is pinkish to red in color, which suggests it has an icy surface. Ice usually turns reddish in color after being irradiated for long periods of time from the Sun’s radiation.”

 

Have a look at Ultima Thule

 

Touchdown. Chang'e 4

 

Chang'e landing

 

Looks like taken out of a Roger Ramjet cartoon

 

First plant to grow on the moon.
Chinese cotton
Well done Chang'e 4

 

Yeah, that looks very Buck Rogers.....

 

China's Chang'e 4 & Yutu-2 to get company mid of April from Indias Chandrayaan-2 & Vikram
https://spacewatch.global/2019/01/i...-lunar-mission-launch-expected-in-april-2019/

 

It would be cool if it actually was that colourful.