PICTURES NOW AVAILABLE from NASA News Briefing About "Unusual Solar Object"

Subject: PICTURES NOW AVAILABLE from NASA News Briefing About "Unusual Solar
Object"

The website
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media...ses/ssc2004-05
just went active a few minutes ago.

It shows graphics of the object called 'Sedna', dark-reddish in color, a bit
smaller than 1400-mile-diameter Pluto, it's 800 to 1100 miles across, half
the size of Earth's moon.

In a highly-elliptical orbit (unusual, yes!!) out beyond the 'Kuiper Belt'
of frozen objects... but not as far out as the Oort Cloud of comets.

Jim Oberg

www.jamesoberg.com

"James Oberg" wrote in message
...
Subject: PICTURES NOW AVAILABLE from NASA News Briefing About "Unusual
Solar
Object"

The website
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media...ses/ssc2004-05
just went active a few minutes ago.

It shows graphics of the object called 'Sedna', dark-reddish in color, a
bit
smaller than 1400-mile-diameter Pluto, it's 800 to 1100 miles across, half
the size of Earth's moon.

In a highly-elliptical orbit (unusual, yes!!) out beyond the 'Kuiper Belt'
of frozen objects... but not as far out as the Oort Cloud of comets.


Should the Pluto flyby mission visit this mysterious object? What do you
guys think. Is it even possible?

"When Gay Meant Happy" wrote
Should the Pluto flyby mission visit this mysterious object? What do you
guys think. Is it even possible?


This was just asked at the press conference.

Sedna is about opposite Pluto in the sky right now, so no,
it can't happen on the Pluto mission.

BUT the survey has only searched 15% of the sky, and over the next five
years
they expect to find other objects LIKE Sedna, including possibly some of
them
on Pluto's side of the Solar system.

James Oberg wrote:
Subject: PICTURES NOW AVAILABLE from NASA News Briefing About "Unusual Solar
Object"

The website
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media...ses/ssc2004-05
just went active a few minutes ago.

It shows graphics of the object called 'Sedna', dark-reddish in color, a bit
smaller than 1400-mile-diameter Pluto, it's 800 to 1100 miles across, half
the size of Earth's moon.

In a highly-elliptical orbit (unusual, yes!!) out beyond the 'Kuiper Belt'
of frozen objects... but not as far out as the Oort Cloud of comets.

Jim Oberg

www.jamesoberg.com



I could immediately tell the opening image was an artist's conception.
But I suspect some viewers wouldn't know. It should be more clearly labeled.

This is pretty exciting stuff.


--
Hop David
http://clowder.net/hop/index.html

Hop David wrote:

I could immediately tell the opening image was an artist's conception.
But I suspect some viewers wouldn't know. It should be more clearly
labeled.

This is pretty exciting stuff.

I wonder if this object is capable of holding on to a helium atmosphere.

Paul

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004, James Oberg wrote:

"When Gay Meant Happy" wrote
Should the Pluto flyby mission visit this mysterious object? What do
you guys think. Is it even possible?

Sedna is about opposite Pluto in the sky right now, so no,
it can't happen on the Pluto mission.

Wasn't the Pluto mission scuddled with Hubble because of Buchwacky's new
spaced out plan to shift NASA funding from science to (military)
occupation of space?

What about Deep Impact, haven't heard that it was scuddled.

NEAR however was damaged by Bush's assult upon NASA,
it's scientific payload lessened and the length of mission
curtailed to shift money from it to Bush's spacey plan.


Not mentioned in Bushwacky's spaced speach was the emphasis upon
nuclear power, reactors lauched from Earth for space missions.

Yes, nuclear power companies are also on Bush's list of goodie guys.

Dear Scuddle Brain:

No. No. No. No.

Come back to Earth. We love you anyway.

J


"William Elliot" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Mar 2004, James Oberg wrote:

"When Gay Meant Happy" wrote
Should the Pluto flyby mission visit this mysterious object? What do
you guys think. Is it even possible?

Sedna is about opposite Pluto in the sky right now, so no,
it can't happen on the Pluto mission.

Wasn't the Pluto mission scuddled with Hubble because of Buchwacky's new
spaced out plan to shift NASA funding from science to (military)
occupation of space?

What about Deep Impact, haven't heard that it was scuddled.

NEAR however was damaged by Bush's assult upon NASA,
it's scientific payload lessened and the length of mission
curtailed to shift money from it to Bush's spacey plan.


Not mentioned in Bushwacky's spaced speach was the emphasis upon
nuclear power, reactors lauched from Earth for space missions.

Yes, nuclear power companies are also on Bush's list of goodie guys.

William Elliot wrote:

On Mon, 15 Mar 2004, James Oberg wrote:


"When Gay Meant Happy" wrote

Should the Pluto flyby mission visit this mysterious object? What do
you guys think. Is it even possible?

Sedna is about opposite Pluto in the sky right now, so no,
it can't happen on the Pluto mission.


Wasn't the Pluto mission scuddled with Hubble because of Buchwacky's new
spaced out plan to shift NASA funding from science to (military)
occupation of space?


Nope. It was the usual internal NASA fight over limited science
dollars. ISS would be a better target for blame.

What about Deep Impact, haven't heard that it was scuddled.

NEAR however was damaged by Bush's assult upon NASA,
it's scientific payload lessened and the length of mission
curtailed to shift money from it to Bush's spacey plan.


? Umm. Wrong president, I think.

Not mentioned in Bushwacky's spaced speach was the emphasis upon
nuclear power, reactors lauched from Earth for space missions.


Hmm. I am pretty sure he did mention nukes. And, there is a certain
amount of technical rationale for it.

Yes, nuclear power companies are also on Bush's list of goodie guys.

Which doesn't lessen the actual technical rationale for developing
nukes. NASA and a lot of pro-space groups have been begging for it
for years.

In article , James Oberg wrote:

BUT the survey has only searched 15% of the sky, and over the next five
years
they expect to find other objects LIKE Sedna, including possibly some of
them
on Pluto's side of the Solar system.

Following up to sci.space.policy only for the moment, if y'all don't
mind... I don't have time to follow alt.alien.visitors.

One of the big questions that occurs to me is, approximately how far
out could this survey have detected Sedna to?

Over how much of its orbital period could Sedna be "discoverable" by
the Survey?

BOGUS STATISTICS ALERT: I KNOW THAT A SAMPLE SIZE OF ONE DOES NOT
WORK...

If it's assumed that Sedna is a representative of a population of
such objects, how many Sednas are there out there we can't see?

Has anyone here done the math already?

Phil

"James Oberg" wrote in message
...

"When Gay Meant Happy" wrote
Should the Pluto flyby mission visit this mysterious object? What do you
guys think. Is it even possible?


This was just asked at the press conference.

Sedna is about opposite Pluto in the sky right now, so no,
it can't happen on the Pluto mission.

BUT the survey has only searched 15% of the sky, and over the next five
years
they expect to find other objects LIKE Sedna, including possibly some of
them
on Pluto's side of the Solar system.

James you wrote:

"BUT the survey has only searched 15% of the sky, and over the next five
years they expect to find other objects LIKE Sedna, including possibly some
of
them on Pluto's side of the Solar system."

I'm not questioning if you are correct about the above, but where did the
above information come from? I would like to find out more on the program
to search for other planet like objects.

Thanks,

Peter