[meteorite-list] Houston, We Have GEOLOGY! (fixed links)

[Gary Fujihara]

Dear List,

"Behold, the First Closeup Pictures
From the Pluto Flyby Are Here"
http://tinyurl.com/o3gtqo7

Color Intensification images
of Pluto and Charon:
http://tinyurl.com/ov9kcxy

Pluto as interesting as a billiard
ball, you say? Well, it appears to
have GEOLOGY, mountains 11,000
feel tall, smooth plains with old
submerged craters in them, folded
ridges, and valleys, a rille or two,
in a word, geology, possibly orogeny. 
And if orogeny comes to mind, can
tectonics be far behind?
http://tinyurl.com/o35dg9r

Charon has a trench or chasm that's
reminiscent of the Valles Marinaris
on Mars, and a dark polar cap that's
already unofficially named... MORDOR.
http://tinyurl.com/p744ps4

All these images are from:
http://tinyurl.com/ov9kcxy


And, on a humorous note, Neil "Da
Grass" Tyson, a well-known hit-man
for the Eight-Planet Syndicate Mob,
is unimpressed by Pluto. He says it's 
because Pluto "crosses" the orbit of
Neptune for 20 years out of its 248
year orbit. 

Of course, this is not true, due to 
their differences in orbital inclination 
--- at no point do they intersect. 
Interestingly enough, that is also 
not one of those IAU criteria he 
promoted the acceptance of. But 
it's funny:
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/tyson-colbert-pluto/

Because of the differences in their
inclination and the 3:2 resonance
they are in, the actual closest Pluto 
and Neptune can possibly approach 
is 17.7 AU, or 1,645,317,790 miles 
(more or less).

The closest Pluto comes to Neptune
is about the same as the closest Earth
ever comes to Uranus. Does that mean
Uranus isn't a planet either? 
http://www.quora.com/Will-Neptune-and-Pluto-ever-collide-in-their-orbits

Or that the Earth isn't one?

Puzzling, isn't it?


Sterling Webb