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TJO Newsletter
Winter 2014/Spring 2015 Edition
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Table of Contents:
8 Planets Soon to be 21?
By Ryan Wagner…………………pg. 1
66 Eyes on the Sky: ALMA’s New Perspective
By Jason Lozo…………………….pg. 8
The Little Guy Pulls Ahead: M Dwarfs and
Exoplanets
By Jessica Shank…………………pg. 4
JWST Checks Out the First Galaxy
By Peter Senchyna……….………pg. 10
(Planetary Nebulae Jets)
By Rebecca Kemmerer…………..pg. 6
Our Newest Window to the Universe: The
Amazing LSST
By Eric Bochsler…...…………….pg. 12
8 Planets Soon to be 21?
By Ryan Wagner
Figure 1- 8 Planet Solar system. Provided by pixelbay.com a copyright free website
(a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has
How many planets are in our Solar
sufficient mass for its self-gravity to
System? If you said 9 you’d be wrong and if you
overcome rigid body forces so that it
said 8, you could be wrong in the near future.
assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly
Whether you count Pluto or not, there could be
round) shape, (c) has not cleared the
some big changes in store for our solar system.
neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is
In 2006 the International Astronomical
Union (IAU) voted to redefine what a planet is
(IAU 2006). The IAU is a group of over 9000
members from 96 different countries that
promote and safeguard the science of astronomy
not a satellite.
3) All
other
objects,
except
satellites,
orbiting the Sun shall be referred to
collectively
as
“Small
Solar-System
Bodies”. (IAU 2006)
(IAU 2014). The definition of the word planet
There are many aspects of this definition that
may soon be redefined causing Pluto to, once
seem deliberately vague. A Harvard-Smithsonian
again, be included along with its siblings.
Center for Astrophysics debate in 2014 called
Additionally, other scientists may prove the
some, if not all, of these descriptions into
existence of even more planets lurking in our
question. The debate did not have an official say
solar systems’ backyard.
as to Pluto’s status as a planet, but in a vote cast
The next open session for the IAU is
by the attendees, Pluto is a planet. This debate
going to be held in Honolulu in August 2015.
could call for a reclassification of what a planet is
There is a possibility that during this session the
and redefine our solar system. The definition
definition of planet may be up for debate. The
could also lead to even more objects being
current IAU definitions for planetary bodies are:
classified as planets such as Pluto’s partner
1) A “planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in
orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient
mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid
body forces so that it assumes a
hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round)
shape,
and
(c)
has
cleared
the
neighbourhood around its orbit.
2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that
Charon. Other Trans Neptunian Object such as
Eris, Makemake and many others shown in
Figure 2 (below) could also fall under a new
classification of planet.
With a new definition of “planet” we
could wind up with a planet count somewhere in
the neighborhood of 19. However according to
Lars Lindberg Christiansen: "There are currently
(Jenner 2014) both of which would most likely
be finding their way into planethood. This
confirmation alone would cause the planet count
of our solar system to be 10. Coupling this
confirmation with the possible revision of the
word planet and there could be a grand total of
over 21 planets in our solar system.
It has yet to been seen just how many
will make it as planets but there could be some
Figure 2-­‐Illustration of relative sizes, colors and albedos of
the large trans-Neptunian objects. © GNU Free
Documentation License extensive changes in the near future of our solar
system. As even more planets are found around
no requests from any astronomers to put this
nearby stars every year (Figure 3) our definition
issue on the agenda at the General Assembly"
of a planet must change to accommodate these
(Rice 2014).
findings. Even more planets could enter our
textbooks making our solar system a very
Even if Pluto doesn’t make the comeback
eventful one.
many are hoping for, scientists have found
possible evidence of an even larger body floating
beyond the orbit of Pluto (C. de la Fuente
Marcos 2014). According to Nicola Jenner at
newscientist.com this body appears to be
orbiting at a great distance from Earth. If you
were to travel the distance from the Sun to the
Earth and multiply it by 250 you would be in the
ballpark of where this planet lies. Not only is
Figure 3 -­‐ Exoplanet Discoveries per year. Provided by www.nasa.gov
this planet presumed to be quite a distance away
So break out your pencil and paper and
but Jenner also states: “Scientists calculated that
start coming up with your mnemonics for the
this world would be about 10 times the mass of
possible planets in the solar system. It will
Earth”(Jenner 2014). A team in Spain says:
probably take a lot of work to create something
“there may actually be two supersized planets
remembered for generations or at least until yet
hiding in the outer reaches of our solar system”
another planet is found.
For more information or to learn more about the
topic discussed in this article see:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1406.0715
http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/23121
http://www.techtimes.com/articles/17093/20141
003/yes-no-harvard-astronomers-kick-up-stormby-claiming-pluto-is-indeed-a-planet.htm
http://www.thetimenow.com/astronomy/dwarfplanets.php
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/10/02/
pluto-planet-solar-system/16578959/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RNGSuFq
mro
Sources Cited C. de la Fuente Marcos, R. d. l. F. M. 2014. “Extreme trans-­‐Neptunian objects and the Kozai mechanism: signalling the presence of trans-­‐Plutonian planets.” arxiv.org. Retrieved December 10, 2014 (http://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.0715v2.pdf). Center for Astrophysics. 2014. “Is Pluto a Planet? The Votes Are In.” cfa.harvard.edu. Retrieved December 10, 2014 (http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2014-­‐
25). IAU. 2014. “About the IAU.” http://www.iau.org/. Retrieved December 10, 2014 (http://www.iau.org/about/). International Astronomical Union. 2006. “Planet Definition -­‐ International Astronomical Union.” IAU.org. Retrieved December 10, 2014 (www.iau.org/static/./doc/iau0603.doc). Jenner, Nicola. 2014. “Two giant planets may cruise unseen beyond Pluto.” New Scientist. Retrieved November 30, 2014 (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25
711-­‐two-­‐giant-­‐planets-­‐may-­‐cruise-­‐unseen-­‐
beyond-­‐pluto.html#.VHtwmYvtC3d). Rice, Doyle. 2014. “Wait, what? Pluto a planet again?” USA Today. Retrieved November 30, 2014 (http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014
/10/02/pluto-­‐planet-­‐solar-­‐
system/16578959/).