Guest guest Posted July 30, 2005 Report Share Posted July 30, 2005 Dear friends, After a bit of research, I found that the new planet was discovered in the constellation of Cetus the Whale. When it was imaged in 31 Oct 2003, it was at the following coordinates: RA = 1hr 39.3m and Declination = -5*21' (@ J2000.0) Using the coordinate transformations, I determined the equivalent ecliptic longitude as 21* Aries - the sidereal position. The tropical position would be near 15* Taurus after adding the rounded 24* correction. The New York Times indicated that the name used in astronomical cirlces is " Xena " . Time will tell if this name ends up as the final one. Regards, Neville , " Neville Lang " <neville@a...> wrote: > > Dear friends, > > Here is an interesting news item that was posted on the > Australian " ABC " news service on Saturday, 30 July 2005 at 11:19am, > AEST -10:00 hours from GMT. > > > 'New planet' found in solar system > > A California astronomer has found what could be a new planet, a body > of rock and ice which orbits the sun every 560 years. > > If confirmed, the discovery would be the first of a planet since > Pluto was identified in 1930. > > California Institute of Technology astronomer Michael Brown says the > new body is the most distant object ever detected orbiting the sun > and ranks as the solar system's 10th planet. > > The possible new planet is at least the size of Pluto and was > discovered orbiting about 14.5 billion kilometres from the sun. > > Dr Brown says the object is a typical member of the Kuiper belt - > which extends from the orbit of Neptune out through the solar system > for about 3,000 million kilometres - but its sheer size in relation > to the nine known planets means it can only be classified as a > planet. > > However, Dr Brown conceded that the discovery would likely rekindle > debate over the definition of a 'planet' and whether Pluto should > still be regarded as one. > > Dr Brown says the new object was detected in January by the Samuel > Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego. > > He says the planet went undiscovered for so long because its orbit > is tilted at a 45-degree angle to the orbital plane of the other > planets. > > Dr Brown says the team has a name in mind for the planet but wants > to formally propose it before releasing it to the public. > > Officially, the new planet is known as 2003UB313, though the New > York Times reports that astronomers have been calling it Xena, after > the television character named for a Greek warrior princess. > > On his website, Dr Brown writes that the new planet is at least as > large as Pluto. > > " Usually when we find these we don't know their size for certain, > only lower limits, " he wrote. > > " The lower limit to this object is the size of Pluto. This object is > at least the size of Pluto and likely a bit larger. " > > - ABC/AFP/Reuters Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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