Tom's Astronomy Web: An Astronomy page for the Observer, the Scientist, the Educator--to provide a content-rich resource for those of us interested in Astronomy.   I try to select pages with information that give you access to the work of skilled-amateurs and professionals .. to help them give you materials for your own investigations . -  Tom (eMail)

Start Here

Music

TOM'S
Solar System
Web

 

Search:   qbSearch .. Megacrawler .. Reference Desk .. Ixquick .. collection
Astronomy:   Satellite Predictions .. Star Maps .. Day-Night Map of Earth .. Events #2
Time:  World Clock (#2) .. USNO(audio) .. Sidereal Time .. UTC .. MST .. TIME
Place: Maps .. Places .. Map Services (#2) .. NM (1, 2, 3, 4), History
People: Directory .. WhitePages .. YellowPages .. Product
Life:  from A-to-Z .. News ..  Zip (World) .. Weather .. Resources .. LookUp  
Language .. Jobs
Taos:  Weather .. Time .. News .. KKIT .. KTAO .. Map(2) .. Airport .. LaPlaza
etc.   J-Track  .. SkyWatch .. NIST .. USTime .. Data .. 
  Works in progress:  LI . Mu . Ar  . JO1 . JO2 . NM . RU . TB . yData

 

Index TIME MST UTC SIDEREAL GO TO
OBSERVER'S PAGE
Solar System SOLAR SYSTEM PLANETS COMETS METEORS SUN
Planets MERCURY VENUS EARTH MOON
MARS ASTEROIDS JUPITER Kuiper Belt SATURN
URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO 10th Planet Kuiper Belt
Comets Oort Cloud Science Planetary Geology Education

SOLAR SYSTEM .. to top .. index

Geometry .. index

Science  .. index

On-Line .. index

Education

Data .. index

Links .. index

Education

Links

SUN .. to top .. index

Geometry .. index

Science .. index

Sun Images .. index

On Line

Data .. index

Sun Spots .. index

Solar Eclipses .. index

Solar Observatories .. index

Tutorials .. index

Space

Software .. index

Links .. index

PLANETS .. to top .. index

Geometry .. index

Science

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

by Organization .. index

Links .. index

MERCURY .. to top .. index

Events .. index

Geometry

Science .. index

Events

Space .. index

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

 

VENUS ... to top .. index

Geometry

Science .. index

Geology

Events

Space .. index

Images

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

Links .. index

EARTH .. to top .. index

Today's Land Temperature .. Ocean Temperature

Science .. index

On-Line  .. index

Data .. index

Topics .. index

Links .. index

MOON ... to top .. index

Geometry

Science .. index

Geology

Space .. index

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

Observing .. index  

    History .. index

    Topics .. index

    Ice on the Moon

    Lunar Geology

    Lunar Eclipses

    Links .. index

MARS .. to top .. index

Geometry .. index

The 2001 Perihelic Apparation of Mars

Science .. index

Space .. index

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

References .. index

Links .. index

ASTEROIDS = Minor Planets n SMALL BODIES .. to top .. index
to include: Small Bodies, Dust, Near Earth Objects

Observing

 

Science

 

On Line

Data Resources

Links

JUPITER .. to top .. index

Geometry .. index

Science .. index

Space .. index

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

Satellites .. index

SATURN .. to top .. index

Geometry .. index

Science .. index

Space .. index

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

Satellites .. index

URANUS .. to top .. index

Geometry .. index

Science .. index

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

NEPTUNE  .. to top .. index

 

Geometry

Science .. index

Space .. index

On-Line .. index

Data .. index

PLUTO .. to top .. index

Question:  Is Pluto a "Planet" or a "Kuiper Belt Object (KBO)?"  The best answer that I can come up with is .. Yes it is "Planet" .. culturally speaking.  Yes,  it is a "Kuiper Belt Object" in the new-speak of NASA scientists and some Astronomers. 

The international naming celestial organization,  IAU, has stated that Pluto will remain a  Planet.

Pro-Planet: It is round, firm ( CH4, N2 and CO2 ices ) and fully packed. It is in orbit around the Sun and has an atmosphere and a rocky core. Historically Pluto  has been named a planet since it's discovery at  Lowell Observatory by Clyde W. Tombaugh February 18th, 1930. Recently it has been found to have one satellite, Charon

Pro-Kuiper Belt Object: It is on the edge of the Kuiper Belt.  It has an orbit significantly inclined to the ecliptic. Is is made of materials similar to cometary materials (CO2 and CH4 ices but not rock core).  This camp prefers to call Pluto a "Comet."

Stay tuned !!!

Pluto-Kuipere Express

Geometry .. index

Science .. index

On Line

Data

Discoverer .. index

Charon .. index

Links .. #1

10th Planet

Currently lying at 97 AU away, the celestial body designated 2003 UB313 is the farthest known object in the solar system, and the third brightest of the Kuiper belt objects. It was first imaged by Michael Brown of the California Institute of Technology on October 31, 2003 with the Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California. It is a typical member of the Kuiper belt, but recently it has been argued that its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets mean that it can only be classified as a planet. The discovering astronomer conceded he and his team did not know the exact size of the new object, but its brightness and distance tell them that it is at least as large as Pluto, which measures 2,302 kilometres in diameter. Scientists later estimated that the object was at least 1 1/2 times larger than Pluto. If confirmed, the discovery would be the first of a planet-mass object since Pluto was identified in 1930. 2003 UB313 is 15 terametres (15 billion kilometres) from the Sun, which it orbits every 560 years at an unusual 45-degree angle.

In July, 2005, the American scientists submitted a name for the "new planet" to the International Astronomical Union, re-igniting the debate about whether or not Pluto should be considered a planet at all. - Wikipedia

COMETS .. to top .. index

SOHO

Observing

Science .. index

Observing .. index

   Data .. index

Publications .. index

Articles .. index

Tutorials .. index

Links .. index

METEORS .. to top .. index

Doing

Overview .. index

Resources .. index

Links .. index

top ... index

Kuiper Belt .. to top .. index

Pluto Express

Science

Oort Cloud .. to top .. index

Science .. to top .. index

Links

Planetary Geology .. to top .. index