STOP PRESS; five new planets discovered

[Saturlight]

Come on, this is ridiculous. Another five planets discovered yesterday by the US telescope.

Rather than saying how many planets in our solor system, and putting them in text books and getting it all wrong, let's cut the crap ( ) and just say there's "loads".

 

[PaulR]

Are they planets or are they plutoids?

 

[PaulR]

Or is it plutons - can't remember.

 

[Saturlight]

Said they were planets on news, Paul.

 

[spiney]

Well, obviously, a nearby neighbouring solar system has too many planets, and can't get rid of them, so is dumping them in ours. Just wait till we catch them at it ......

 

[Channel Hopper]

We need some more, preferably a bit closer to us than Mars.
(maybe on the same orbit as the Earth)

 

[Razor]

Won't see it in my life time, but some day we will be able to relocate planets and park them just as sats are parked.

3+earth could be accommodated in our orbit.

 

[PaulR]

3+earth could be accommodated in our orbit.

Don't think so. Minor pertubations in gravity would inevitaly cause the planets to congregate together and coalesce as one.

This is how the solar system built up as each planet swept up all the matter within its gravitational field on its orbit.

 

[spiney]

Yes, PaulR, agreed!

The only stable positions are Lagrange Points:

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMM17XJD1E_index_0.html .

(Goerge Smith's famous Venus Equilateral stories used this!).

 

[Channel Hopper]

Yes, PaulR, agreed!

The only stable positions are Lagrange Points:

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMM17XJD1E_index_0.html .

(Goerge Smith's famous Venus Equilateral stories used this!).

Not quite.

One thing the Lagrange theory overlooks is the gravitational pull of the object that is placed at the 'point', which is why it is usually classed as an observer.
Once a planet is put in the spot, it's own gravitational pull (coupled with it's size, and any other eccentricities of orbit due to mass displacement) is likely to knacker the whole solar system.

 

[spiney]

The 3 body problem is always approximate, as Ch Ho should realise! Lagrange's theory does not "overlook" anything. (quite frankly, this remark - about one of the greatest ever mathematical astronomers - is surprisingly ignorant).

Solutions to 3 - or more - bodies are always via approximation techniques, "good enough" for all practical purposes, within the limits of experimental and calcuation accuracy.

Anyone wishing to follow up Lagrange or "3 body problem" weblinks may do so, use google, I won't bother giving any.

 

[Razor]

If we can park them, then we can keep them parked. That's what the big parking thingy is good at. Sats use fuel to keep in slot we can use the our parking thingy.

See it even has a name. Hope it's a Honda one and not a Fiat one, they keep breaking down.

 

[Channel Hopper]

(Goerge Smith's famous Venus Equilateral stories used this!).

followed by

The 3 body problem is always approximate, as Ch Ho should realise! Lagrange's theory does not "overlook" anything. (quite frankly, this remark - about one of the greatest ever mathematical astronomers - is surprisingly ignorant)

followed by

Solutions to 3 - or more - bodies are always via approximation techniques, "good enough" for all practical purposes, within the limits of experimental and calcuation accuracy.
Anyone wishing to follow up Lagrange or "3 body problem" weblinks may do so, use google, I won't bother giving any.

If I recall, 'Goerge Smith' dabbled with faster than light communication in at least one of his stories.

Theory does not equate to reality, it is a theory. Spiney should (have) know(n) ;) that there is never certainty in anything, and all scientists work on the basis that nothing is absolute.

Anyone wishing to check what 'theory' actually means may do so, I will bother giving starters.

Pronunciation: 'thE-&-rE, 'thir-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ries
Etymology: Late Latin theoria, from Greek theOria, from theOrein
1 : the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
2 : abstract thought : SPECULATION
3 : the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art <music theory>
4 a : a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action <her method is based on the theory that all children want to learn>
4 b : an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances -- often used in the phrase in theory <in theory, we have always advocated freedom for all>
5 : a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena <the wave theory of light>
6 a : a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation
6 b : an unproved assumption : CONJECTURE
6 c : a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject <theory of equations>