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Astronomers have some compelling models which suggest a ninth tenth goddammit (fuck you Neil!) planet out there in the Kuiper Belt.
Aside: The current definition of "planet" that excludes Pluto exists primarily to keep the numbers down so that it can be taught simply to children. It also fails since Jupiter doesn't appear to have cleared its orbit as required (because it's got extensive collections of stuff in its Grecian and Trojan points).
The articles talking about it keep saying "earth-like".
Nothing out at 500 AU is "earth-like". <- Assuming the New York Post got the distance the scientists talked about correct. 500 AU is more Oort Cloud than Kuiper Belt...
1.5-3 times the size of Earth, itself, isn't very earth-like either.
The descriptor you're looking for is "rocky planet."
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars and Pluto are rocky planets.
I get the impression that all the inner planets are "earth-like" by the definition of The NY Post.
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ReplyDeleteDang it. I think I forgot to sign my previous post...
ReplyDeleteI recommend "The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference" by Alan Boyle. I know him personally and was at the AAS convention where he debated Neil about Pluto's demise.
OT LBB 8 should be of at least order-of-magnitude utility in figuring out the conditions on the postulated planet. It would certainly of more utility than any mass-media article, since LBB 8 requires a certain level of competence in mathematics.
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