Scientists find a planet so light it could float on water.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Originally Posted by Kerensky287

I think that terrestrial planets like Earth should be the only things to keep the definition of Planet. Meaning that they have water, an atmosphere, and other things necessary to support life. Then come sub-planets, like mercury... gas planets, like Jupiter... see what I'm getting at?

which is exactly why Pluto has been de-classified to a "minor-planet" but everyone gets all pissed off about it!! there is no solution to this whole fucking problem because people dont like the classifications that the scientists come up with. Dam human idiocy!!

[Long-Haired Narcissist]

Oh yeah, can someone explain the Willy Nelson joke to me?

[TheSpacePope]

Oh we have the technology to see Earth sized planets just not the funding. NASA is giving it a shot though. Maybe in the next 30-40 years we'll be naming off earth like and sized planets.

Show me wise man, show me please.

Oh yeah, can someone explain the Willy Nelson joke to me?

That might be too inside....
I don't know.

[Sithdarth]

Originally Posted by TheSpacePope

Show me wise man, show me please.

http://www.llnl.gov/str/March03/Hyde.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=98221&page=1
http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/about.html

and that's just for starters and about 10 years of actually getting funding for some of the projects.

Edit: and this thing too
http://constellation.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Now its going to take some time to get the X-ray version up. Put there was some talk of using the same multi-telescope approach with standard optical telescopes like the Hubble. Even perhaps using the new super light weight giant folding mirror technology. Basically creating a telescope thousands if not millions of times more sensitive than the Hubble in a decade or two at the most.

[Bobbey]

HAT-P-1 is an oddball planet, since it orbits its parent star at just one-twentieth of the distance that separates Earth from our own sun. While Earth takes a year to orbit the sun, the newly found planet whips around its star once every 4.5 days.

I don't quite get this...this planet is apparently as close to it's sun like mercury is to ours(maybe even closer). How can it be possible that this planet is a gas planet? Wouldn't it's gasses have evaporated from the intense heat coming from it's sun? And how come it isn't a solid planet? Being that close to it's sun would make it become solid, no?
And could it be possible that this planet does not have an atmosphere? For sure, this planet's gravitational force is strong enough to keep it's own atmosphere, but again, because of it being so close to it's sun, wouldn't it's atmosphere have been evaporated like mercury's?

I'm quite confused...

[Archbio]

For sure, this planet's gravitational force is strong enough to keep it's own atmosphere, but again, because of it being so close to it's sun, wouldn't it's atmosphere have been evaporated like mercury's?

A small Telluric planet like Mercury has only a small fraction of the gravity that a Gas Giant can have, unless I'm greatly mistaken.

[Sithdarth]

I think the common explination is that they form out where Jupiter formed and then for some reason they take a trip inwards kicking out all the little planets in the way. Of course they're already huge by then so they have more than enough pull to hold onto the vast quantity of their gasses. They probably lose what amounts to trace bits of thier atmosophere every few years.

Also, the wonderful thing about being giant and made of gas is that you have a lot of places to put and use extra heat. Like say powering giant ass super storms the size of several Earths. It is considered impossible for a gas giant to form that close but there is nothing to wrong with it moving that close from farther out.

One of the main problems is that we have is that we have very little observational evidence on how solar systems form. This is why we build giant ass telecopes and then shoot them into space.

[Michael Morris]

Saturn in our own solar system is less dense than water - so it's not a first.

[Fifthfiend]

Originally Posted by Loto

Oh yeah, can someone explain the Willy Nelson joke to me?

It was more of a Katamari Damacy joke, really.

I don't know how Willie Nelson got pulled into that one, it just sort of happened.

[Mr.G.Williams]

Originally Posted by fifthfiend

It was more of a Katamari Damacy joke, really.

I don't know how Willie Nelson got pulled into that one, it just sort of happened.

I can explain that one for yah'! You see, Willie Nelson is actually a student of the ancient art of Shiki-wiki-hiki-bomm, allowing him to dominate the minds of lesser beings. Using this power, he expands his commercial influence. His latest move has been try and steal a planet for his own personal use...because Willie Nelson is awesome and will one day rule the universe.

On a less grave note, this whole sudden upsurge in interest in the objects in our solar system has me slightly peeved, but I try not to keep up with it. It's better that way. I plan to wait until interest has died down, then see exactly how many planets we have left...