[meteorite-list] 'Plutons' Push Planet Total Up To 12

Larry Lebofsky lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu
Wed Aug 16 16:43:38 EDT 2006


Hi Sterling:


It is a little more complicated than that! Remember that Pluto is "tilted" on 
its side (about) and so while in recent years half the time Charon is closer or 
further away, in a mere 50 years or so (1/4 of the orbit) they will be side by 
side.

In response to Rob's last email, yes, the center of mass is outside Pluto (the 
same criterion used for binary stars), so binary planet.

Larry

Quoting "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>:

> Hi,
> 
> 
>     Pluto and Charon are Planets Ten and Eleven;
>     Which is which? Nobody knows, outside of Heaven.
> 
>     The orbital period of Charon is 6.38723 days. Half
> that time, it's Eleven; half that time it's Ten. But don't
> ask when! Just think of them as Planet 10-11, like 7-11
> or 9-11, as a set, or maybe as Planet EleventyTen. Their
> surfaces are only 16,040 km apart! Just jump real hard!
> I just mean, they're cozy.
> 
>     I can't see the problem of the redefinition being very 
> large for us, or people generally, or astronomers, or even
> school children, but one thought occurs to me. What 
> about the Astrologers? Are they going to ignore this?
> Or re-write everything? Customers will come in and
> then complain because the aspects of Ceres are not 
> included in their Charts. What about the influence of 
> Charon on their Love Life? "You're a Scorpio with
> Xena rising..."
> 
>     What a mess!
> 
> 
> Sterling K. Webb
> --------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "David Weir" <dgweir at earthlink.net>
> To: "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb at sbcglobal.net>
> Cc: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 10:41 AM
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] 'Plutons' Push Planet Total Up To 12
> 
> 
> > Sterling,
> > 
> > In what order would you place the 12 planets? Would the order for Pluto 
> > and Charon be based on which is usually closest to the Sun? If so, which 
> > would be most often closest to the Sun? I'm having trouble picturing 
> > this orbital dance in my head.
> > 
> > David
> >
> 
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> 


-- 
Dr. Larry A. Lebofsky
Senior Research Scientist
Co-editor, Meteorite                      "If you give a man a fish,   
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory               you feed him for a day.
1541 East University                       If you teach a man to fish,
University of Arizona                        you feed him for a lifetime."
Tucson, AZ 85721-0063                                     ~Chinese Proverb
Phone:  520-621-6947
FAX:    520-621-8364
e-mail: lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu



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