Starship Asterisk*

At this point, we've only been able to detect extrasolar planets "wobble-y" not visually. Then in theory, if our optics were good enough, we may at some point in the future detect extra-solar planet systems younger with more developed rings and older systems with no rings. Or better yet, a...

Forgive this newbee question. How does the Cafe differ from what's happening here and is "dangerous" a reference to having threads deleted or is something else going on there?

OK guys - another stoopid question Is there anything about the gas giants that predisposes them to rings (all of them have rings, NONE of the terrestrials do)? There is some chatter about one of Mar's moons potentially shattering into a ring system in about 100 million yrs, but I thought that the ga...

well there's a "boy howdy!" - I guess we would clear the ring systems -
wouldn't we?

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Oops - sorry, I stuttered (these planets, those planets)

(I just woke up)

No, you misunderstood my question. What would OUR sky look like if these planets were if those planets were at the moon's distance - which would include the sun's illumination of them as well.

So the diameter of the other planet divided by the diameter of the moon times the earth moon distance gives us the distance that planet would have to be to appear the size of the full moon. Did I phrase that correctly? If that aren't any other wonky factors, i can do the research and crank out my an...

Haven't since Return of the Jedi. Sorry.

But let's talk starquakes and AXPs and SGRs and I might be interested.

I was thinking about the Mars hoax and that got me thinking about two interesting (possibly APOD) ideas. First - how far would each of the planets have to be from Earth to appear the size of the full moon. Second - what would the sky look like if they were the distance to the moon. I know that the o...

No it's not just you (well... maybe, it could be).

Actually, I think APOD sometimes does a disservice with illustrations.

Objects that distant (100 AU) are just not going to be that well lit.

At 44 degrees of inclination from the plane of the solar system, my vote is Minor Planet - yes. 10th Planet - NO!!

IMHO

At 44 degrees of inclination from the plane of the solar system, my vote is Minor Planet - yes. 10th Planet - NO!!

IMHO

Size is becoming less and less and determining factor in the argument over what is and what isn't a planet. Some people are arguing that sufficient size (and therefore gravity) that results in a round object, should be considered a planet. But what does shape have to do with it. Quaaor, Varuna, et a...

At about 100 AUs (Astronomical Units = Sun-Earth distances), it is HIGHLY unlikely that the object in question formed there. Too cold, too thinly spread out amount of stuff to accrete into a large body. Possibly like Pluto, it was formed closer in and was scattered outward by Neptune, but at 100 AU,...