Astronomy & Space

[SickBoy]

I was going to create a more specific thread for the topic, but since it may very well come down to just me, Jup, and a few lurkers... I'll just post interesting news & photos all in the same thread:


Our Tenth Planet... it has a Moon!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 075911.htm

The newly discovered 10th planet, 2003 UB313, is looking more and more like one of the solar system's major players. It has the heft of a real planet (latest estimates put it at about 20 percent larger than Pluto), a catchy code name (Xena, after the TV warrior princess), and a Guinness Book-ish record of its own (at about 97 astronomical units-or 9 billion miles from the sun-it is the solar system's farthest detected object). And, astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and their colleagues have now discovered, it has a moon.

I've been skeptical about calling Pluto a real planet, but if a similar mass beyond it has a moon - how can it really be argued? Considering the Kuiper Belt - there could very well be a couple more planets yet to be discovered.

One thing's for sure - it screws up the old acronym rhyme! I guess it could be changed to..."My Very Energetic Mother Just Showed Us Nine Pretty Xanthiums" or something... easier to just memorize the damn planet names!



ADMIN 5/14/10: Changed subject title to reflect the wider range of discussion in this thread.

[Jupiter]

I was going to create a more specific thread for the topic, but since it may very well come down to just me, Jup, and a few lurkers... I'll just post interesting news & photos all in the same thread:


Our Tenth Planet... it has a Moon!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 075911.htm

The newly discovered 10th planet, 2003 UB313, is looking more and more like one of the solar system's major players. It has the heft of a real planet (latest estimates put it at about 20 percent larger than Pluto), a catchy code name (Xena, after the TV warrior princess), and a Guinness Book-ish record of its own (at about 97 astronomical units-or 9 billion miles from the sun-it is the solar system's farthest detected object). And, astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and their colleagues have now discovered, it has a moon.

I've been skeptical about calling Pluto a real planet, but if a similar mass beyond it has a moon - how can it really be argued? Considering the Kuiper Belt - there could very well be a couple more planets yet to be discovered.

One thing's for sure - it screws up the old acronym rhyme! I guess it could be changed to..."My Very Energetic Mother Just Showed Us Nine Pretty Xanthiums" or something... easier to just memorize the damn planet names!

You forgot 2 other minor planets....
Quaoar& Sedna...

I think there may be one or two more as well...


Edit: Info on all three planets and a few others.

[SickBoy]

You forgot 2 other minor planets....
Quaoar& Sedna...

I think there may be one or two more as well...


Edit: Info on all three planets and a few others.

That's just it - did I forget them or are they even legitimate? Your links you provided even consider the latter:

"Quaoar definitely hurts the case for Pluto being a planet," said Brown, Quaoar's co-discoverer. "If Pluto were discovered today, no one would even consider calling it a planet because it's clearly a Kuiper Belt Object."

Brown does not consider Sedna to be a planet. He and many other astronomers maintain that Pluto should not have ever received planet status, either, since astronomers are now finding myriad round objects beyond the orbit of Neptune

What is a planet - how do you define it? Granted we have a dictionary definition, but since the field of astronomy has grown - the current definition of "planet" has become far too vague. Pluto and Xena both are said to have moons - does this qualify them to be a planet, since it means a center of gravity? or is it fair to say everything has one?

Also - are these objects nothing more than large, distant comets (frozen gases) -or- is there rock at their center? - if so, does this center need to be molten to be considered a planet - or is it based on overall size, as asteroids are nothing more than small orbital rocks.

The same argument is being held true for Pluto, Quaoar, Sedna, Varuna, or Xena... and in some regards, even Ceres.

[Thor]

So what are they teaching kids in school these days regarding our Solar System? How many planets do we tell our kids there are?

[DrunkHockeyGuy]

I was going to create a more specific thread for the topic, but since it may very well come down to just me, Jup, and a few lurkers... I'll just post interesting news & photos all in the same thread:


Our Tenth Planet... it has a Moon!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 075911.htm

The newly discovered 10th planet, 2003 UB313, is looking more and more like one of the solar system's major players. It has the heft of a real planet (latest estimates put it at about 20 percent larger than Pluto), a catchy code name (Xena, after the TV warrior princess), and a Guinness Book-ish record of its own (at about 97 astronomical units-or 9 billion miles from the sun-it is the solar system's farthest detected object). And, astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and their colleagues have now discovered, it has a moon.

I've been skeptical about calling Pluto a real planet, but if a similar mass beyond it has a moon - how can it really be argued? Considering the Kuiper Belt - there could very well be a couple more planets yet to be discovered.

One thing's for sure - it screws up the old acronym rhyme! I guess it could be changed to..."My Very Energetic Mother Just Showed Us Nine Pretty Xanthiums" or something... easier to just memorize the damn planet names!

Thanks for the post, I enjoy it a lot. I guess I am in to the whole space thing (and we aren't talking about the space in-between my ears.)

[Jupiter]

I think we are in a transitional period right now.... The Astronomy community has no "set" definition of what a planet is. This is something that has always been on the backburner since all they had to debate was whether Pluto was a planet or not. But it has really come to the for-front in the last few years with the recent new discoveries. So I am guessing that something will need to be decided eventually.

It will be very difficult to take Pluto off of the planet list.... So my best guess is that these small "planets" will be classified as minor planets... Who knows????

[SickBoy]

[img]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b273/ZanyKuiper/Eclipse-Space.jpg[/img]

A Solar Eclipse, as seen from space.

[tcswiz]

This kind of material gets me excited about the planetarium opening back up in 2006.

I expect many more discoveries of this nature within the next decade or so. Eventually we probably will see some new classification system. Instead of trying to fit new types of objects into our prexisiting structure it may be more convenient to reengineer our thinking. This way we could avoid getting locked into one way of thinking, thus increasing our potential for further discovery.

[Jupiter]

The amatuers are catching up to the pros very quickly...

Here is a photo that the Hubble took recently:
<img src="http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/afp/20051024/capt.sge.uef22.241005214922.photo00.photo.default-334x313.jpg?x=334&y=313&sig=47.6AxM5b.MV6AzbAzuGHg--">

Here is a photo taken by a friend of mine via webcam and a telescope. Not bad for an amatuer with a 10 inch telescope.
<img src="http://www.mnastro.org/forums/album_pic.php?pic_id=184">

[Thor]

Does anyone have any pictures of Uranus? That one never gets old!!!


Actually last year when I was taking an Astronomy class at the U a joke like that came up almost every day in lab.................usually by me.

[sherlock]

Say Jup, I have a question for ya.

On Saturday I was driving up north. I remember it being about noon, and I looked out the window and saw the fricken moon high in the sky. It was a little puzzling, as I can't remember ever seeing it that high, that late.

Since you are the astronomy buff, I was hoping you could explain what was going on?

Thanks!

[Jupiter]

Say Jup, I have a question for ya.

On Saturday I was driving up north. I remember it being about noon, and I looked out the window and saw the fricken moon high in the sky. It was a little puzzling, as I can't remember ever seeing it that high, that late.

Since you are the astronomy buff, I was hoping you could explain what was going on?

Thanks!

A lot goes into that... It depends on where it is in the current moon cycle and on the time of year. It not easy to explain in words and is easier to explain in person for pointing and references in the sky.

[allan]

Say Jup, I have a question for ya.

On Saturday I was driving up north. I remember it being about noon, and I looked out the window and saw the fricken moon high in the sky. It was a little puzzling, as I can't remember ever seeing it that high, that late.

Since you are the astronomy buff, I was hoping you could explain what was going on?

Thanks!

nick, I've got a few astronomy books in my room back home. you can borrow them some time if you want, lots of cool stuff in there.

[SickBoy]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Mimas_moon.jpg[/img]

Mimas, one of Saturn's so called "moons" - looks like a space station to me!

[SickBoy]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/Mars_lake.jpg/750px-Mars_lake.jpg[/img]

Ice on Mars... you can hear about it, but to see it - wow!

[Eastsider]

[quote="Jupiter"]The amatuers are catching up to the pros very quickly...

Here is a photo that the Hubble took recently:
<img src="http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/afp/20051024/capt.sge.uef22.241005214922.photo00.photo.default-334x313.jpg?x=334&y=313&sig=47.6AxM5b.MV6AzbAzuGHg--">

Cool stuff guys. what is this photo of?

[tcswiz]

Apparently, researchers have just discovered two new moons around Pluto.

[Jupiter]

<img src="http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/afp/20051024/capt.sge.uef22.241005214922.photo00.photo.default-334x313.jpg?x=334&y=313&sig=47.6AxM5b.MV6AzbAzuGHg--">

Cool stuff guys. what is this photo of?

Isn't it obvious that it's Mars?

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://apod.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0511/bubble_croman_big.jpg width=800 height=600>

The Bubble Nebula... would make a nice wallpaper.

[SickBoy]

An aurora (like the Northern Lights), as viewed from the Int'l Space Station.

[tcswiz]

The Ny Times reported on Nov 3 that scietists are extremely close to actually getting a pic of a Black Hole. Sorry can't post anymore I threw the paper away and it costs cold hard cash ($3.95) to get the article off of the website. Anyways, a pretty cool breakthrough nonetheless.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://www.telescopes.cc/images/m31-hires-larger.jpg width=800 height=600>

Andromeda, our closest neighboring galaxy - one you can actually see with the naked eye... also would make a great <a href=http://www.telescopes.cc/m31deeplarger.htm>wallpaper</a>.

[20-niner]

http://www.40-below.com/sunmoon/index.html

If you punch in a date plus lat/longitude this will tell you sun and moon rise/transit/set.

Transit is the time of the day when the moon is directly south.

[SickBoy]

http://www.40-below.com/sunmoon/index.html

If you punch in a date plus lat/longitude this will tell you sun and moon rise/transit/set.

Transit is the time of the day when the moon is directly south.

...or you could use a free <a href=http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart/article_1220_1.asp#>Sky Chart</a> that, once you plug in your location (or select Minneapolis area off a list), you can see the visible sky by 1 hour increments over time - including constellations, planets, and of course the sun & moon.

[20-niner]

Hey, that's better yet. I originally stumbled upon the page I linked to because I was looking to photograph things with the moon in the background.

Not easy to do unless you know where and when the moon is going to be!

[allan]

Wow, those are some awesome pics Sickboy. I made the one of Andromeda my background picture. Amazing how clear that picture is as well. Are they touched up a bit for clarity or has the technology just come that far? Andromeda is still pretty far away if memory serves me correct.

[Jupiter]

Andromeda is still pretty far away if memory serves me correct.

It's over 2 million light years away. The farthest object the human eye can see without a telescope or binoculars. Even at that distance, it is HUGE in the sky. The problem is that the human eye cannot see it's actual size in the sky because it is very dim. If you could see it as you can in the photo above, it would be 3 times larger that the moon appears in the sky.


EDIT: It's actually 6 moon widths in size not 3.

[allan]

Andromeda is still pretty far away if memory serves me correct.

It's over 2 million light years away. The farthest object the human eye can see without a telescope or binoculars. Even at that distance, it is HUGE in the sky. The problem is that the human eye cannot see it's actual size in the sky because it is very dim. If you could see it as you can in the photo above, it would be 3 times larger that the moon appears in the sky.


EDIT: It's actually 6 moon widths in size not 3.

Wow, I can't even really imagine seeing something that size up in the sky. Thanks for the info.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA07628_modest.jpg width=800>

The moon's Dione, Tethys, and Pandora, next to Saturn's Rings.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA00304_modest.jpg width=800>

The dark side of the moon.

[sherlock]

Jeez, Sickboy... those are awesome. Kudos.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/hotshots/2003_11_04/eit195.gif width=800>

Our sun the moment it emits a massive solar flare.

[streakygopher]

okay, this is probably a really stupid question but why are heavenly bodies shaped like orbs?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I believe it's because liquids become roundish in zero-gravity environments. After the big bang all the matter was molten and with no gravity they become round, cooling into what we have today. I think I read that in Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell. I may be mistaken though. That was a few years ago that I read that.[/i][/u]

[LostBulldog]

Some very cool pictures SickBoy!!

Also some very interesting information in this thread. I've always found Atronomy interesting, just don't end up doing much reading about it.

Thanks for posting this!

Mike

[SickBoy]

okay, this is probably a really stupid question but why are heavenly bodies shaped like orbs?

I believe it's because liquids become roundish in zero-gravity environments. After the big bang all the matter was molten and with no gravity they become round, cooling into what we have today.

All celestial bodies are relatively spherical due to center of gravity. Gravity is largely debated, but according to Einstein's Theory of Relativity this center of gravity is related to energy & mass curving space-time. That in itself is a vast scientific and philosophical debate, but assuming you will accept "gravity" as a cause, you can then accept that matter (liquids, gases, solids, and plasmas) is directly related to this center of gravity, therefore all celestial bodies have a gravitational pull at it's center of mass - and thru time, form a spherical shape.

Now, note that they are not true spheres. Many things can change the shape, but the most common is centripetal force, which is caused by the rotation of a given celestial body. This force causes a "bulge" at the equilateral line between the two poles (equator).

Does that answer your question?

[dock]

okay, this is probably a really stupid question but why are heavenly bodies shaped like orbs?

I believe it's because liquids become roundish in zero-gravity environments. After the big bang all the matter was molten and with no gravity they become round, cooling into what we have today.

All celestial bodies are relatively spherical due to center of gravity. Gravity is largely debated, but according to Einstein's Theory of Relativity this center of gravity is related to energy & mass curving space-time. That in itself is a vast scientific and philosophical debate, but assuming you will accept "gravity" as a cause, you can then accept that matter (liquids, gases, solids, and plasmas) is directly related to this center of gravity, therefore all celestial bodies have a gravitational pull at it's center of mass - and thru time, form a spherical shape.



Now, note that they are not true spheres. Many things can change the shape, but the most common is centripetal force, which is caused by the rotation of a given celestial body. This force causes a "bulge" at the equilateral line between the two poles (equator).

Does that answer your question?

Are you really Stephen Hawking or a PhD in physics

[streakygopher]

okay, this is probably a really stupid question but why are heavenly bodies shaped like orbs?

I believe it's because liquids become roundish in zero-gravity environments. After the big bang all the matter was molten and with no gravity they become round, cooling into what we have today.

All celestial bodies are relatively spherical due to center of gravity. Gravity is largely debated, but according to Einstein's Theory of Relativity this center of gravity is related to energy & mass curving space-time. That in itself is a vast scientific and philosophical debate, but assuming you will accept "gravity" as a cause, you can then accept that matter (liquids, gases, solids, and plasmas) is directly related to this center of gravity, therefore all celestial bodies have a gravitational pull at it's center of mass - and thru time, form a spherical shape.

Now, note that they are not true spheres. Many things can change the shape, but the most common is centripetal force, which is caused by the rotation of a given celestial body. This force causes a "bulge" at the equilateral line between the two poles (equator).

Does that answer your question?

Thank you for that. Yes, it makes sense that a uniform gravitational force would form a sphere. However, why does a mass have a center of gravity in the first place? You see, I really know nothing of astronomy...it is fascinating, I will admit.

[SickBoy]

Yes, it makes sense that a uniform gravitational force would form a sphere. However, why does a mass have a center of gravity in the first place?

That's all theorized at the moment, so ... somewhere near Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, Super-string theory (aka "Theory of Everything"), and presumably a vast amount of unknowns.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA07758_modest.jpg width=800>

Saturn's moon Enceladus backlit by the sun. The mist is actually part of a fountain-like spray of material that towers over the southern polar region.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://www.space.com/images/051201_iod_crabnebula_02.jpg>

Most detailed picture of the Crab Nebula ever recorded - recently taken by the Hubble Telescope.

[fishingmn]

There are some awesome pictures in here.

I took a year's worth of Astronomy my freshman year to get my science requirements taken care of - was one of my best classes.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/eit/images/Sun_and_earth.jpg>

An "eruptive prominence" on the Sun. You can really see how fragile we our, comparing our planet to a normal Sun 'spat'.

[SickBoy]

A <a href=http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/meteor.html>meteor</a> as seen from a cop's dash-cam.

[SickBoy]

On another forum I've been known to peruse, I found a thread asking about the likeliness of life outside of Earth in the known Universe. After reading a few responses of "Yes" - "No" - and "God only created life on Earth, and that was 6,000 years ago" - I felt compelled to give an educated response.

Now I figure those of you that read this thread probably ask that same question from time to time, so I decided to post my response here for you too:




This picture covers 10x10 arcseconds of an angle. An arcsecond is 1/3600 part of a single degree. There are 360 degrees to a given 2D plane. In other words, take this image and multiply it by about 1,296,000, add a complete 3D range, as well as consider that some galaxies may be blocked by others in our line of vision, not to mention those that our instruments aren't advanced enough to detect...




Another view, this one approx 1/10th of the night sky, all galaxies. Keep in mind on this one that a typical galaxy is estimated to contain 10,000,000 - 1,000,000,000 stars, averaging probably around 5-10 planets or more each.


That said...


Are there other species of any kind out there? Most certainly in our star system alone, probably no more than at a bacterial level though.

What about intelligent species? Most certainly several in our galaxy alone, though probably not similar in design to us (both in physical stature, and in mental/social capabilities).

In the entire Universe? There are most likely more different types of species in the known Universe than there are grains of sand at your local beach.

[Paladin]

Careful what you say, SickBoy. All the creationists on this board are ready to pounce...

[SickBoy]

The idea of the post was to show how small & insignificant we are, and that our knowledge isn't even so much as a piece of lint on the tip of an iceberg... but oh, how I'd love to have that conversation nonetheless...

[Keith]

The creationists won't come here looking for an argument, but we will pray for you. Merry Christmas!

[mjohnson6767]

<img src=http://apod.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0511/bubble_croman_big.jpg width=800 height=600>

The Bubble Nebula... would make a nice wallpaper.

Thanks for the great wallpaper it sure looks cool.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://img310.imageshack.us/img310/770/irisnebula4zx.jpg>

The Iris Nebula, located in the constellation, Cepheus.

[Jupiter]

Here is an article from the StarTribune about Light Pollution from 2004.
http://www.cotnerfamily.com/LP/LP_article.html

Light Pollution in Minnesota....
[img]http://www.cotnerfamily.com/LP_Maps/Minn_Large.jpg[/img]

[SickBoy]

I guess you could call this a global version of Jup's previous post:

<img src=http://img324.imageshack.us/img324/4874/earthatnight7jj.jpg>

This is a collage of satellite pictures to show the industrial areas, if you will, via lights at night. It really shows how little of the land is really modernized, and how lucky we are to live in America.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://www.newscientistspace.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn8582/dn8582-1_600.jpg>

"The Cartwheel galaxy shows concentric rings of star formation, probably caused by a collision with a smaller galaxy."

[GopherHockeyFan]

I figured this was probably the best place to put this.

http://climate.umn.edu/

Wife said we had about 9 days below zero this winter. I said no way, been too warm. Stupid facts.

Kind of a neat site if the phrase data doesn't make you cringe.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://photobucket.com/albums/c92/deo89/TheSunatUV.jpg width=800>

Blue UV of the Sun.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://photobucket.com/albums/c92/deo89/12003-32-a-full_jpg.jpg>

Not sure what this is, but looks great nonetheless.

[Jupiter]

I have become a fan of the Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) which is 1300 light years away in the constellation Cepheus.

[Dancing Girl]

In my college astronomy class, we learned that scientists are still unsure whether or not Pluto is indeed a planet. It is described as being similar to a dirty snowball, which does not fit with any of the other planets in our system. Xena is similar to Pluto and some scientists speculate that these two planets are part of another asteroid belt that contains many "frozen planets."

As far as life on other planets and in other galaxies, it is hard to say. There is so much left to be discovered. Our galaxy alone is so huge and we haven't even reached the edges of it. However, as far as we know, earth is the only planet that supports life at this time. Also, being one of those creationists, I have this to say. The Lord never indicated that there is life elsewhere, however, anything is possible with God.

[h8red]

<img src=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpegMod/PIA07628_modest.jpg width=800>

The moon's Dione, Tethys, and Pandora, next to Saturn's Rings.

Does anyone else think that Tethys looks like a giant tennis ball?

[h8red]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/Mars_lake.jpg/750px-Mars_lake.jpg[/img]

Ice on Mars... you can hear about it, but to see it - wow!

Who's gonna play the first hockey game on Mars? How sweet would that be?

[Jupiter]

Video of the ISS passing in front of the Moon....

Composition of the Video


Click Here for Animated GIF in slow motion
Click Here for Windows Media File

The video shows how fast it was really moving in relation to the moon as viewed from Earth.

[stelly18]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bb/Mars_lake.jpg/750px-Mars_lake.jpg[/img]

Ice on Mars... you can hear about it, but to see it - wow!

Who's gonna play the first hockey game on Mars? How sweet would that be?

Gophers v. Badgers! I'll line up the fan bus!

[Kahuna]

I use this site for wallpaper on my computer, and NASA updates the pictures daily.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html

You can use their 'search feature' and type in the text of the celestial body (or look for a terrestial body) you would like to see images of.

Here's my current wallpaper
[img]http://kp12m.as.arizona.edu/images/smt/smt_at_night_med.jpg[/img]

[thinkbui]

Here is an article from the StarTribune about Light Pollution from 2004.
http://www.cotnerfamily.com/LP/LP_article.html

Light Pollution in Minnesota....
[img]http://www.cotnerfamily.com/LP_Maps/Minn_Large.jpg[/img]

Sorry, that was me. I had chili for lunch. My bad.

[SickBoy]

<img src=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d4/Keplers_supernova.jpg>
Kepler's Supernova

[Jupiter]

Scale...

[stelly18]

Kind of puts some perspective on how small and insignificant we are on the whole "scale" of things.

[Mariucci94]

It is astounding that we're the only intelligent life form out there.

[Iceburg]

Kind of puts some perspective on how small and insignificant we are on the whole "scale" of things.

I don't feel quite as fat after looking at that. Thanks for sharing, my nine-year-old especially loved it.

[joy]

Oooooh! Pretty pictures!!! Love it.

Don't know if anyone is interested, but my brother has a PhD in Astrophysics, and is a professor at St Thomas. So if you've got a burning question that hasn't been answered here, I'm sure you could try to get some answers out of him.

Here's a few links on his research and stuff:

Current research: http://webusers.astro.umn.edu/~manawa/r ... earch.html

PhD Thesis abstract: http://www.astro.umn.edu/grad/alumni/ab ... nberg.html

St Thomas Staff Profile: http://www.stthomas.edu/physics/faculty ... index.html

[Bacardio]

It is astounding that we're the only intelligent life form out there.

Since when have humans been considered intelligent.

Or as the saying goes:

"The best evidence of intelligent life in the universe is that it has contacted us"

[cujo]

Scale...

Hey Jupiter, I thought Your-Anus was larger thant that

Sorry, jup could not pass up the cheap-shot

[Jupiter]

You can see Antares in the pictures above. It's obviously very large... If it replaced our sun it would have the diameter of Mars orbit. That's about 300 million miles wide. The Sun is only about 870 thousand miles in wide.....

But

Mu Ceti, a Red Supergiant is much larger.... It's the largest star visible to the naked eye - it is roughly 2.4 billion miles across! If it replaced our Sun, it would extend beyond the orbit of Saturn...

[5 titles and counting]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Mimas_moon.jpg[/img]

Mimas, one of Saturn's so called "moons" - looks like a space station to me!

Space station my eye - more like the DEATH STAR.
Maybe that is were George Lucas got the idea from.
the huge crater looks very similar - just less smooth.

wow nice pic

[stelly18]

[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Mimas_moon.jpg[/img]

Mimas, one of Saturn's so called "moons" - looks like a space station to me!

Space station my eye - more like the DEATH STAR.
Maybe that is were George Lucas got the idea from.
the huge crater looks very similar - just less smooth.

wow nice pic

That's no moon!