....Where's Lucy Lawless when you need her?
LOS ANGELES - The astronomers who claim to have discovered the 10th planet in the solar system have another intriguing announcement: It has a moon.
While observing the new, so-called planet from Hawaii last month, a team of astronomers led by Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology spotted a faint object trailing next to it. Because it was moving, astronomers ruled it was a moon and not a background star, which is stationary.
The moon discovery is important because it can help scientists determine the new planet's mass. In July, Brown announced the discovery of an icy, rocky object larger than Pluto in the Kuiper Belt, a disc of icy bodies beyond Neptune. Brown labeled the object a planet and nicknamed it Xena after the lead character in the former TV series "Xena: Warrior Princess." The moon was nicknamed Gabrielle, after Xena's faithful traveling sidekick.
By determining the moon's distance and orbit around Xena, scientists can calculate how heavy Xena is. For example, the faster a moon goes around a planet, the more massive a planet is.
But the discovery of the moon is not likely to quell debate about what exactly makes a planet. The problem is there is no official definition for a planet and setting standards like size limits potentially invites other objects to take the "planet" label.
Possessing a moon is not a criteria of planethood since Mercury and Venus are moonless planets. Brown said he expected to find a moon orbiting Xena because many Kuiper Belt objects are paired with moons.
The newly discovered moon is about 155 miles wide and 60 times fainter than Xena, the farthest-known object in the solar system. It is currently 9 billion miles away from the sun, or about three times Pluto's current distance from the sun.
Scientists believe Xena's moon was formed when Kuiper Belt objects collided with one another. The Earth's moon formed in a similar way when Earth crashed into an object the size of Mars.
The moon was first spotted by a 10-meter telescope at the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii on Sept. 10. Scientists expect to learn more about the moon's composition during further observations with the Hubble Space Telescope in November.
Brown planned to submit a paper describing the moon discovery to the Astrophysical Journal next week. The International Astronomical Union, a group of scientists responsible for naming planets, is deciding on formal names for Xena and Gabrielle.
....We need a ROFLcopter for this!
Someone get it, chop chop (because I have no clue where to find it...)!
Xena?
...
F@#%in' XENA?!
So now we have URANUS, PLUTO, ... and now XENA?!
HOORAY FOR MORE MINDLESS POP CULTURE AND IMMATURE PLANET JOKES! Oy vey.
Hence the word unofficial attached to it. 🙂
I'm sure URANUS and PLUTO were "unofficial", before named, as well. 😛
Just like the Nintendo DS. "NO NO! That's not the final name, no way! It's lame, we need a better name... ... just kidding, we're lazy."
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....We need a ROFLcopter for this!
And seriously...Xena?
Might as well start naming asteroids after TV characters. I call Buffy!
It's about time the government gave props to the lesbian community.
I remember there was a bit of an online surge to get this planet named after the character that bit the dust in the new Harry Potter book. o_O
Jinsoku, what's wrong with Uranus and Pluto? They do match the Roman god naming pattern...
I loved Xena, so I approve. 😉
I loved Xena, so I approve. 😉
Me, too.
~Neo
You know they're considering revoking Pluto's planetary classification?
That would sort of exclude this one, as well...
Revoking Pluto? ouch, thet's got to bea blow to the ego, I bet all the other planets are laughing at him behind his back
Pluto, you see, may be too small. There's some debate on the subject...
I think they have done it actually Xag. It was on QI on BBC 2. probably the only thing worth watching on BBC 2 until Top Gear comes back.
And the Earth has five moons!
Back on topic. Xena? wow. I wonder if Mobius had a chance?
different topic john, on QI they noted that earth had about ten moons or 1, depending on what counts as a moon, Xag was talking about planet classification
I don't think they've revoked Pluto's status. I'd have heard it if they did. oO
>> No they havent revoked it yet, I've been on top of that. But they are really pushing for it. No mind to the fact that there are a TON of objects in that danged belt biggerthan this Xena buisness. Speaking of which....
Xena?
Yeah I'm with Jin. I was already upset with the whole Roman/Greek planet naming system, but that took the cake. Gabrielle isint even Roman! Oy, man they should just say "Ok Kuiper Belt is its own system with its own Planetary bodies."
Then they wouldn't hafta worry about this.
..No. This is buggin' me something fierce. Who can even see it?!?!?! Its 3x the distance Pluto is? Honestly, Its hard enough to see Neptune this time of year....who the hell is gonna see "Xena"? These guys must be putting their retinas to the lenses to see these things these days x_x
:Waits for the chakram::
>> Side note: How come no one ever says the Moon's real name anymore. It's just "The Moon." u_u Sad.
I'd rather stick with "Planet X".
How about Nemesis?
** shot for blatant SM:R connection ** :p
I say call it Bob!
Was watching G4 last night. I believe it was Wednesday's rerun, but they made a nice little joke skit about the whole Xena/Gabriel planet/moon thing on AOTS. I found it funny. Practically, 30 years from now, some astronomy show would look back on when nerds started naming planets after shows like that, then we'd get the Spock belt, etc. etc. after popular geek shows.
Which I don't doubt at all will happen.
OMG this is awesome news! Now that's it's called XENA we can now literally abbreviate it as PLANET X!!! *dances*
Was watching G4 last night.
Man, I thought you were cool.
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Man, I thought you were cool.
OH YOU DID NOT STEP THERE! DON'T DISS THE JIN!
(okay I'm done 
)
