Hi all, a friend of mine has just recently got back from America. He told me that he read an article about how the European Space Agency have discovered that Uranus and Pluto are missing and it seems that they have been trying to keep a lid on it. Has any one heard any thing about it or is it hoax?
I haven't heard anything along those lines. I must say, those are rather large objects to go missing. Definitely a lot harder to misplace than a set of keys or such. Have the astronomers looked around for them?
I think we'd feel it gravitationally if two planets suddenly left their orbits. Have they tried taking the cap off of the telescope lens?
Hi does any one know of an amature astronomer who has access to a decent telescope so we can check this out. Maybe it's just a rumour but you never know
Uranus (and Neptune) are in the same part of the sky as the moon so they would be hard to see right now. Later on this month Uranus will be able to be seen in any good telescope or even a very good pair of binoculars. Pluto can only be seen in very large scopes (far beyond the range of what amateurs can afford -- unless Bill Gates happens to be an amateur astronomer Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! [This message has been edited by Lenny (edited September 20, 2000).]
Pluto is out of the question, but I might be able to verify whether or not Uranus is still up there. I'm still new to this, but I've had some intermittent luck at finding mag. 7 or 8 objects before, so I'll try if I get a decent night. Just one other thing. Oxygen, I don't think the average person would notice if Uranus and Pluto were gone. Pluto is only about half the size of our own moon, and its several billion miles away. The gravitational effects it has on earth are basically zero. As for Uranus, its not all that massive, either (despite its size). Its gravity is actually LESS than that of the Earth, by a fairly considerable margin (estimates I've seen run from about 10-20% less). And again, its well over a billion miles away. Over a very large period of time I think it would have an impact on us, but I don't think the average person in his or her lifetime would have any clue if Uranus and Pluto suddenly vanished, and would never know unless they actually tried to look for them.
Yup, must've been that darn lens cap, alright. I checked it tonight, and I'm about 95% certain that Uranus is still up there. There was a bluish-green disk right where Uranus should be, although it was a lot dimmer than I expected. It appeared to be a lot closer to mag. 8 than the mag 6 I expected. That's why I'm not 100% sure.
Why keep a lid on it? Besides, a planet doesnt vanish, its got to go somewhere! ------------------ If the theory does not fit reality then reality MUST be changed.
I know this is an old thread. I heard along time ago that Pluto had gone missing but noticed no school books have been changed. My cousen made a model of the system and it had Pluto on there. So I went online and tried finding an artical about it but yeah I got nothing but this site and an on line place selling shirts and stuff that say Pluto is missing. has anyone found anythign to conferm or deny that it is there?
Well, there is no evidence that they have gone missing. I suppose they are still there since most encyclopedias and astronomic sites still list them as planets in our system.
Astronomers have a thing called "occultations". When a large object, like a planet, passes in between the star that an astronomer is looking at through a telescope, and the telescope, it blots it out. Not only did Pluto not go missing in 2000--in the summer of 2002 it caused three sensational (to astronomers) occultations. It blotted out three stars. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20020909/pluto.html As for Uranus, it isn't missing, either. The VLT got it on video in 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2617317.stm And the Hubble got it in January 2004. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0401/22outerplanets/
Um, That value is for Surface gravity. Uranus' mass is over 10 times that of Earth. For any given distance from its center its strength of gravity would be also over ten times that of the Earth. Its surface gravity is less because its density is low and this causes its surface to be that much further from its center.
You know, it's always in the last place you look... But if they did "disappear" then we would certainly know about it. You wouldn't need a telescope to find this out. The gavitational pull of all planets help keep each other in line, if one were to go kapoot then we'd certainly notice a shift. But two...might as well be raining sand. Anyway, even if the ESA did lose it, NASA and co probably know where it is. "It's on the side," they beckon.
