Planet or Can it?
The recent discovery of a large planet-like object in the Kuiper belt has astronomers debating the status of our tenth planet, Pluto. Discovered by scientists at the California Institute of Technology, the aspiring planetoid has been dubbed Quaoar after the god of an Indian people who at one point inhabited the Los Angeles area. Well on the outer rim of our solar system, Quaoar is said to be half the size of Pluto (itself a mere 1400 miles across), made entirely of rock and ice, and have an orbit of the sun that takes 288 years. What with the prophesized discovery of additional large objects in the Kuiper belt looming, many scientists are questioning the semantics that named Pluto a planet in the first place. It is yet to be seen whether Pluto will find itself demoted back into the ranks of the Kuiper belt objects it was differentiated from in 1930. Who knows? Size might matter afterall. Read more
here.
current science news posted by Kirsten at 10/07/2002 11:23:00 PM
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