03/09/2017 – Ephemeris – More on the definition of a planet controversy

Ephemeris for Thursday, March 9th.  The Sun will rise at 7:05.  It’ll be up for 11 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 6:41.  The Moon, 3 days before full, will set at 6:03 tomorrow morning.

Last Friday’s Weekly Space Hangout, on Google Hangouts featured Dr. Alan Stern, principal Investigator of the New Horizons Mission to Pluto and beyond.  Dr. Stern considers himself a planetary scientist, rather than an astronomer, and doesn’t much care for the IAU or International Astronomical Union’s definition of a planet.  To him and other planetary scientists: if it’s round and not a star… it’s a planet.  They’re are more concerned about what it is than where it is, or what it’s orbiting.  Planetary science encompasses geology, climatology,  chemistry, and astrobiology among others.  For instance astrobiology is looking at the origin of life on the Earth and looking for life on other worlds like the planet Mars and at least three moons, Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus and Titan.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Check out last Friday’s Weekly Space Hangout here

For the latest on astronomical, space events and discoveries this is a good place to go.

08/25/2015 – Ephemeris – Waiting for more images from New Horizons

Ephemeris for Tuesday, August 25th.  The Sun rises at 6:56.  It’ll be up for 13 hours and 35 minutes, setting at 8:32.   The Moon, 3 days past first quarter, will set at 3:16 tomorrow morning.

The New Horizons team is downloading data now from all the instruments gathered from the encounter with Pluto, but in mid-September the pictures again will be flowing down to Earth.  What was downloaded in the day and a half after close encounter with Pluto were highly compressed images of an area of Pluto and Charon’s surface showing a wider view than we will see later on and in full resolution.  The team is already beginning to name the features that can be seen in sufficient detail.  The International Astronomical Union has decided the types of names for Pluto, Charon and the rest of the Satellites.  Pluto is set aside for explorers, both human and robotic.  Charon, for mythical and fictional space and adventure heroes, vessels and authors.

Times are for the Traverse City/Interlochen area of Michigan. They may be different for your location.

Addendum

Map of Pluto with unofficial place names so far. Credit NASA/JPL. Click to enlarge.

Map of Charon with unofficial place names so far. Credit NASA/JPL. Click to enlarge.

The International Astronomical Union approves all names of objects off the Earth.  Go to either http://www.iau.org or more specifically http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov.