Jimmy the Geek

Pluto on eBay...

Well, it was bound to happen...

Pluto not a planet?

Pluto Loses Planet Status

By Lisa Pickoff-White
August 24 - The International Astronomical Union has stripped Pluto of its planetary status. Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh of Arizona's Lowell Observatory and classified as a planet. In 2003, Pluto’s standing was called into question when astronomers found a larger object, UB313, in the Kuiper Belt, an area beyond Neptune filled with large icy objects and believed to be the source of many comets.

Approximately 2,500 experts at the IAU’s general assembly voted to change Pluto’s status, rejecting a proposal that would have retained Pluto as a planet and brought three other objects into the planetary club. Pluto is considerably smaller and more distant than the other planets in our solar system. Two-thirds the size of Earth's moon, Pluto's classification as a planet came under scrutiny when many objects of similar size and distance were discovered in the Kuiper Belt in the 1990s.

The Space Studies Board provides an independent, authoritative forum for all aspects of space science and applications, and it serves as the focal point within the National Academies for activities on space research.  -link-

Jupiter

This is a movie of Jupiter I took a couple months ago.  I took it with a modified Quickcam 3000 webcam attached to my 12" reflector telescope.

Why is Jupiter moving so fast?  Actually, it's moving at normal speed, it just looks fast because we're just looking at a tiny sliver of the sky.  Heavenly bodies scoot along at about 15 degrees per hour because of the earth's rotation.   The field of view in this 10 second movie is less than 1/25th of a degree, a pretty small slice of the sky. 

You can clearly see Jupiter's bands.  Several moons were also visible, but the webcam just didn't have the resolution required.

Enjoy!