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‘Tenth planet’ may be smaller than Pluto after all
‘Tenth planet’ may be smaller than Pluto after all
Eris, a distant body that triggered the debate about what constitutes a planet, may actually be smaller than Pluto, according to new observations
Read more on New Scientist
Hatfield hopes for third time lucky
A Fredericton-area native has tempted Neptune’s fate twice, nearly losing his life on previous voyages through the treacherous southern oceans.
Read more on Daily Gleaner
Cosmic Log: Pluto’s rival gets downsized
Science editor Alan Boyle’s Weblog: New observations suggest that the dwarf planet Pluto could be the ninth-largest world orbiting the sun after all.
Read more on MSNBC
No CommentsPluto; the Planet That Never Was
Pluto; the Planet That Never Was
Funny, isn’t it? After approximately 76 years of known existence, Pluto is suddenly excluded from the list of planets in our solar system. Pluto, till now, was considered the ninth planet and the farthest one from the sun in the solar system. It was initially noticed in the year 1905, when Lowell Observatory (founded by Dr. Lowell in 1894) started an extensive project in search of a possible ninth planet. It was finally given an identity in 1930 by Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh of Arizona’s Lowell Observatory.
Pluto is no stranger to controversy. Infact, it’s been dogged by disputes ever since its discovery. Many astronomers feel that Pluto, now officially downgraded to ‘dwarf status’ on August 24, 2006 by International Astronomical Union, never deserved to be a full planet in the first place. Pluto was considered a planet because scientists initially believed that it was of the same size as of earth. It remained one because for years, it was the only known object in the Kuiper Belt, an enigmatic zone beyond the Neptune that is teeming with comets and other planetary objects. In 1978, Pluto was found to have a moon, later named as Cheron. Later two more were found which christened Nix and Hydra this past june.
So now the question appears: What is a planet’s new defination and why was Pluto disqualified ? The answer provided to the people is that a Planet should be a Celestial Body that (i) Orbits around the Sun; (ii) Has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to pull it into a nearly spherical shape; and (iii) Has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. Pluto was disqualified because it failed to meet the third condition. Its oblong orbit overlaps Neptune’s.
The movements of the planets along their orbit is very essential for their existence and their inclusion in the solar system. Astrology as a subject is in connection with the movements of the planets around the sun. In astrology, planet differs from its modern usage. Astrology utilises the ancient geocentric model of the universe in its calculations and thus employs the term in its original geocentric sense.
The seven classical planets are those which can easily be seen with the naked eye and were thus known to ancient astrologers before the advent of the telescope. The Sun also know as ‘Sol’ is usually thought to represent the conscious ego, the self, and the principles of creativity, spontaneity, health and vitality – the life force. The sun is the planetary ruler of Leo. The moon or ‘Luna’ is the ruling planet of Cancer. It is associated with a person’s emotional make-up, unconscious habits, rhythms, memories and moods. Mercury is the ruling planet of Gemini and Virgo and represents the principles of mentality, thinking patterns, rationality, transport, reasoning, and communication. Venus associated with the Roman goddess of love, is described as representing love. Venus is associated with the principles of harmony, beauty, balance, and the urge to unite. It is the ruling planet of Taurus and Libra. Mars is the ruling planet of Aries and, for many astrologers, Scorpio. Before the discovery of Pluto, it was universally considered the ruler of Scorpio. Most modern astrologers consider Pluto the ruler of Scorpio, but may regard Mars as a co-ruler, while all traditional astrologers still regard Mars as the only ruler of Scorpio. Jupiter is associated with the principles of growth, expansion, religion, higher education, prosperity and protecting roles. Jupiter is the ruling planet of Sagittarius, and for many astrologers, also the ruler of Pisces. Saturn is the ruling planet of Capricorn and, traditionally, Aquarius. It is associated with the principles of limitation, restrictions, boundaries, reality, crystallizing and structures.
Since the invention of the telescope, Western astrology has incorporated Uranus, Neptune and Pluto into its methodology. The planet Uranus is the ruling planet of Aquarius and associates with the principles of genius, new and unconventional ideas, discoveries, electricity, inventions, and radical politics, among other things. Modern astrologers associate the planet Neptune with illusion, deception, religions, spirituality, the mass media, music, drugs, extreme sensitivity, psychic phenomena and altered mental states. Neptune is the ruling planet of Pisces. “Pluto” is considered to represent the part of a person that destroys in order to renew. A commonly used keyword for Pluto is “transformation”. It is the ruling planet of Scorpio.
Pluto is also associated with extreme power and corruption; the discovery of Pluto in 1930 coincided with the rise of fascism and Stalinism in Europe and the major proliferation of organized crime in the United States. It is also associated with nuclear armament, which had its genesis in the research of that decade.
Forget what you were taught in school, Pluto is no longer a full planet. The Classsic planets of the solar system becomes eight now namely Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
You can send Zodiac Ecards to your friends, relatives, collagues etc through some sites on the net such as 123Greetings.com
Sean Carter writes on holidays, and celebrations around the world, zodiac signs .He also writes on family, relationships,womens issues birthdays, inspiration, religion, love and friendship. He is a writer with special interest in ecard industry. He writes for 123greetings.com
Article from articlesbase.com
No CommentsThe Moon and Gas Giants
The Moon and Gas Giants
Event on 2010-11-12 19:30:00
Compare the clouds of Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus to the craters on the Moon as you look at them through the Observatorys telescopes. Also discover the similarities and differences between our Moon and the moons of these gas giant planets.
at Lake Afton Public Observatory
25000 West 39th
Wichita, United States
No CommentsCool Planet Neptune images
Some cool Planet Neptune images:
Neptune
Image by jpstanley
I spotted Neptune for the first time tonight. There aren’t any particularly bright stars nearby, so it took me quite awhile with my binoculars and some maps printed from Starry Night to find it.
So now the only planet I haven’t seen is Pluto. That’ll have to wait until I get a telescope. 
Photo info: Stack of five 15-second exposures, 113mm equiv, f/4.9, ISO 400
Neptune makes a close pass
Image by jah~
Think of the planet as a stencil. It’s a 3D model of Neptune on an iPhone app called planets. I shot it for about half second, then panned to the background scene with real moon. This technique needs work, but has potential. The trick is to not get the ambient background light from the phone but allow enough light in on the second part of the exposure.
Neptune, organic mineral pendant
Image by cocoachuchu.etsy.com
Planets and stars are the true inspiration of this necklace. Resembling the planet of Neptune, blue with cloud clusters, this necklace is simple and organic.
No CommentsBerthe Morisot – Female Impressionist
Berthe Morisot – Female Impressionist
Berthe Morisot was born in the town of Bourges, France into a family that was wealthy, cultured and, above all firmly rooted in the arts. She was the granddaughter of Fragonard, the famous French Rococco painter. Her father was a high-ranking civil servant and the family actively developed the education of their daughters by bringing them private tutors for literature, languages and painting.
Berthe and her sister Edma, who had begun painting and drawing as young girls, soon became accomplished artists and regularly copied masterpieces at the Louvre after the family moved to Paris in 1852. Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot was one of the art tutors of the Morisot sisters and he encouraged the girls to paint out of doors. Corotâs light-filled landscapes were later to be one of the main influences on the Impressionist movement.
Morisot had befriended painter Henri Fantin-Latour and through him came to know Edouard Manet in 1868. It was to be a friendship that would change her life, for not only did Manet introduce Morisot to the circle of Parisian Impressionist painters but in 1874, when she was 33 years old, Berthe married Manetâs younger brother, Eugene. The couple had one daughter, Julie.
Manet and Morisot had a tremendous influence on each other. The two artists regularly exchanged ideas about art and posed for each otherâs paintings. Indeed, she appears in eleven of Manetâs paintings, including a striking portrait of Morisot dressed in black after she was widowed. Under Manetâs influence, Morisot distanced herself from Corotâs style and adopted a freer approach to form and color.
Although marriage gave Morisot the social stability women in those days needed, she did not stop painting as her sister Edma had done. By 1874 she was a well-established member of the Impressionists. Although as a woman she was not able to participate in the café discussions on art, the group declared that her paintings, with their light daubs of pure color and unfinished backgrounds, embodied the spirit of Impressionism. She was good friends with Degas and Bazille and, in 1874 she shunned the official Salon and agreed, instead, to join her fellow Impressionists at their first independent exhibition, the âSalon des Refusésâ (the Salon of the Rejected). There, Morisot showed paintings drawing on her domestic life, such as The Cradle and Reading as well as some impressionistic landscapes like The Harbor at Cherbourg.
Eugene Manet died in 1892, leaving Berthe a rather young and heartbroken widow. She confided her feelings to her daughter Julie who became her constant companion and even painted alongside her mother, like Edma had done in the past.
Berthe Morisot died of pneumonia in 1895. She was 54 years old. Her first solo exhibition had taken place a few years earlier in 1892. In her lifetime she thought her work had no importance, but after her motherâs death, Julie took care of promoting Morisotâs works by lending them out to exhibitions, starting with a huge memorial exhibition of 300 works in Paris in 1895, and ensuring that Morisotâ contribution to the Impressionist movement would achieve the recognition it deserved.
You can find a wide collection of Berthe Morisot paint by number patterns at the Segmation web site. These patterns may be viewed, painted, and printed using SegPlayâ¢PC a fun, computerized paint-by-numbers program for Windows 2000, XP, and Vista.
Mark Feldman is President of
SegTech, a company devoted to a wonderful Image Segmentation technology called Segmation.
Segmation – The Art of Pieceful Imaging
Article from articlesbase.com
This animation pans over the artists impression of planet CoRoT-7b, which is so close to its star that the day-time temperature may reach 2000 degrees Celsius and it may have a surface that is covered in lava.
Find More Corot-7b Articles
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