For someone who claims to not care about Pluto, you've certainly put a lot of energy into the thought of destroying it.
On the serious side, calling Pluto and Eris planets is not "unworkable," providing we establish dwarf planets as a third class of planets that are planets due to their being in hydrostatic equilibrium but of the dwarf subcategory because they do not gravitationally dominate their orbits. The IAU vote does not "drop Pluto from the planetary club" if significant numbers of astronomers refuse to accept that vote. The ten-planet system may not have lasted long, but the 13 planet system, which includes Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris is a legitimate view in the astronomy community.
Of course, that makes things harder for you on the destroying end. You'll have to target four more objects because they are also messing things up by causing controversy. That's more bombs to build and more money taken away from human needs.
If Pluto were really the puny asteroid some IAU members and supporters think it is, it wouldn't be that difficult to destroy in the first place.
Then there is the issue of the international treaty against weapons in space. Will the US violate this treaty and become a rogue nation, or will a rogue group like the Front for the Liberation of the Universe from Pluto act on its own and risk being designated as terrorists?
This act could set off a full-scale solar-system war as countries, corporations, and individuals decide they want a piece of the action. What if "friendly fire" accidentally hits Earth? And if you do shatter Pluto, what about the risk of one or more shards being pulled into the inner solar system and impacting Earth?
What if Pluto has more defenders than you realize, and they get the same bombs and threaten at attack on Earth if you dare bomb Pluto? Would you risk the safety of our own planet?
You might just want to choose learning the ways of the Sith, which would be easier and consume less resources. That's assuming you're okay with embracing the Dark Side.
Begun, the Pluto Wars have!
astroengine
· 1 month ago
Oh no, I DO care about Pluto. I think Pluto is awesome. I just don't care much for the "debate" that surrounds whether it is called a "planet", "dwarf planet" or "debris" (after I've finished with it).
You know my opinion about the IAU thing.
As for blowing up Pluto, I reckon it's far enough away not to cause any problems for Earth. :)
Let's give it a go and see what happens!
brobof
· 1 month ago
Time 2 leave the country methinks. Cultural contamination. What *is* this American obsession for dropping big bombs on planets? (Including ours!) Personally I found the politics of the 2006 meeting as dubious as the (re)classification. Laurel says it for me: "An Open Letter to the 27th IAU General Assembly" http://laurele.livejournal.com/10429.html Look out for the Erinýes!
All Comments
On the serious side, calling Pluto and Eris planets is not "unworkable," providing we establish dwarf planets as a third class of planets that are planets due to their being in hydrostatic equilibrium but of the dwarf subcategory because they do not gravitationally dominate their orbits. The IAU vote does not "drop Pluto from the planetary club" if significant numbers of astronomers refuse to accept that vote. The ten-planet system may not have lasted long, but the 13 planet system, which includes Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris is a legitimate view in the astronomy community.
Of course, that makes things harder for you on the destroying end. You'll have to target four more objects because they are also messing things up by causing controversy. That's more bombs to build and more money taken away from human needs.
If Pluto were really the puny asteroid some IAU members and supporters think it is, it wouldn't be that difficult to destroy in the first place.
Then there is the issue of the international treaty against weapons in space. Will the US violate this treaty and become a rogue nation, or will a rogue group like the Front for the Liberation of the Universe from Pluto act on its own and risk being designated as terrorists?
This act could set off a full-scale solar-system war as countries, corporations, and individuals decide they want a piece of the action. What if "friendly fire" accidentally hits Earth? And if you do shatter Pluto, what about the risk of one or more shards being pulled into the inner solar system and impacting Earth?
What if Pluto has more defenders than you realize, and they get the same bombs and threaten at attack on Earth if you dare bomb Pluto? Would you risk the safety of our own planet?
You might just want to choose learning the ways of the Sith, which would be easier and consume less resources. That's assuming you're okay with embracing the Dark Side.
Begun, the Pluto Wars have!
You know my opinion about the IAU thing.
As for blowing up Pluto, I reckon it's far enough away not to cause any problems for Earth. :)
Let's give it a go and see what happens!
"An Open Letter to the 27th IAU General Assembly"
http://laurele.livejournal.com/10429.html
Look out for the Erinýes!
http://qntm.org/?destroy
As for pluto, wouldn't it be easier just to drop the perihelion so that it intersects Uranus, and let it get eaten?
http://qntm.org/?destroy
As for pluto, wouldn't it be easier just to drop the perihelion so that it intersects Uranus, and let it get eaten?
e = mc^2
= 75kg × 299,792,458^2 m/sec
= 75 kg × 8.99 × 10^16
= 6.74 × 10^18 J
so we take 5.91 × 10^27 / 6.74 × 10^8 = 8.77 × 10^8*
I mean if we're really just energy as Dr. Charlene Werner says...
http://worldofweirdthings.com/2009/10/31/and-no...
... imagine how much damage people with roughly the same weight as me may have.
*or according to my exact calculations, 877,448,071.22. I'm not quite sure how we're going to get the 0.22 but I'll probably figure something out...