Discovery of new ice-encrusted rock in space

[gurdonark]

I think it's cool that they found something nearly half the size of Pluto out in outer space out beyond Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. The thinking apparently is that it is not a planet, as it is too small in general and in relation to its neighbors. Accordingly, they gave it the name of a really obscure god, as apparently all the major names are reserved for a tenth planet. I read an article which suggested that this object fuels an old debate about whether Pluto is in fact a planet or merely another Kuiper Belt object. I'm sure this will be hotly considered and debated at every social event I attend for years to come.

I had a quick flash about what would happen if Intel announced that it had already patented a process for discovering the next sub-planetoid object, giving it the exclusive right to name it, but then it would turn out Intel had to name it the Moby Planet pursuant to its extensive merchandising agreement with that artist (Moby having foreseen the need for credit as to all celestial objects). But my efforts to draft this post as a faux press release went for naught, and I must instead mention it only in passing. We are all made of stars, after all, or else they would not play that commercial one hundred times an evening.

Tonight apparently a new show features a plot line revolving around Batman's illegimate child with Catwoman. I would prefer that a show based on such a union be termed something other than "Birds of Prey", as the titling seems to ignore species groupings altogether. I'm tempted to make one of those tacky old riddles like "What do you get when you cross a Bat with a Cat?" to which the answer should be something like "I'm not sure, but the notion of furballs dropping from mid-air is awe-inspiring", and yet, really, the true answer to the riddle is "something they broadcast on the WB". Still, I really like "Smallville". I just hope "Birds of Prey" does not portray Batman as a deadbeat dad.

I wish we spent more on exploring the deepest sea. I'd love to see more giant squid type discoveries, not to mention intelligent life down below.

Comments

[babilary.livejournal.com]

when I saw the trailer, I thought (with eyes rolling dramatically) it was the WB answer to Dark Angel, the popular Fox show. Generally I don't watch much on WB or anything else, but I will admit to liking Smallville and CSI enough to watch them on a fairly consistant basis. and I sometimes watch Alias. More commonly I watch PBS...there's a great Frank L. Wright documentary on this week.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I love television, and I may even like this show, but the premise does get eyes rolling!

Oh, and sorry to cross threads, but it may be germane that HGTV is Home and Garden TV cable network.

[the-outsider.livejournal.com]

Dark Angel, the popular Fox show.

I'm pretty sure Dark Angel was cancelled due to low ratings. I think Smallville is one of those guilty pleasure shows; it's not that great, but is watchable and interesting at times. Those are definitely the world's oldest teenagers though!

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I think the distinction between solar system vs. Kuiper belt has nothing to do with size. Solar system object were made out of the original stellar accretion disk. Kuiper belt objects were snagged from interstellar space later on. Pluto is at the very boundary, that's why it's debatable. The article I read in BBC Online said there could be Kuiper Belt objects as large as Pluto.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Very useful, thanks for that. That sounds right :)

[marstokyo.livejournal.com]

Not deadbeat-- deadBAT. (ouch, sorry)

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Very good one!

[nickelchief.livejournal.com]

This from the Sky and Telescope website:

"[The discoverers] Trujillo and Brown have proposed the name Quaoar (pronounced kwah-o-wahr), the creation god of the Tongva, or San Gabrelino, tribe that inhabited Southern California before the arrival of Spanish explorers and Caltech astronomers."

Ha!

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

The San Gabrielinos were actually interesting, from what little I know of them, so it is all fitting somehow. But how would the god in question feel?

[nickelchief.livejournal.com]

Tough question. My best guess? The God in question would offer a guttural, holyoutlawesque "Hah!"

I'm pleased to make your acquaintance and shall add you toot-sweet to my friends list.

[laruth.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I should really keep up with the news! Thanks for posting about the new-found-space-object!

As for the new telly series, we won't be seeing it in Australia until the season finishes in the US, AND it was a success.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

We don't get much of your telly, except for some reason every guy or girl who ever kissed a crocodile ends up on our TV, and they all wish they were Paul Hogan :)

[mesawyou.livejournal.com]

the interesting thing about that ice crusted "planet" is that some astrologists are now wondering if Pluto is a bonafide planet. WOW can you imagine demoting pluto. Oops sorry you're just a Disney character.

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

One day you're a god. Then you're a planet. Then you're a canine. Who could doubt reincarnation?

[miscelenaclosed.livejournal.com]

I wish we spent more on exploring the deepest sea. I'd love to see more giant squid type discoveries, not to mention intelligent life down below.

OOoo! So you read about those giant bent-leg things down there too? Weren't those photos great? If their 'heads' were just a bit more geometric they'd look exactly like enormous viruses! ;)

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

Yes! Those bent leg things are cool in and of themselves, but they really symbolize for me how the bottom of the sea is still such unknown frontier!