Regardless of whether you think of Pluto as a planet or not — that debate is still raging
among planetary scientists and celebrities alike — the New Horizons flyby was a historic moment for solar system exploration, and it deserved every bit of attention it got.
But just how unpleasant has become the subject of renewed debate
among planetary scientists trying to understand the planet's enigmatic topography.
The general consensus
among planetary scientists is that accretion is extremely unlikely to produce moons more than a few ten - thousandths the mass of their host planet.
Discoveries of water on Mars are now so common that the subject has become the butt of jokes
among planetary scientists: «Congratulations — you've discovered water on Mars for the 1,000 th time!»
Not exact matches
It serves as the model for collaboration
among disciplines and nations in
planetary science, with its instrument teams featuring balanced rosters of U.S. and European
scientists.
Using Cassini's visible and infrared mapping spectrometer,
planetary scientists discovered that Phoebe's surface is
among the most complex in the solar system.
The Cassini spacecraft swinging through orbits around Saturn and its satellites has been sending back extraordinary pictures of its own, particularly from the moon Enceladus, and if they are less famous
among most of the public, they may be no less inspirational to
planetary scientists.
Among Saturn's substantial posse of moons — 61 have been discovered so far — two particularly odd ones are capturing the imagination of
planetary scientists.
Other participants include renown
scientists, thinkers, artists, policy makers and celebrities like George Whitesides, CEO, Virgin Galactic; Lou Friedman, Ph.D. astronomer and co-founder of the
Planetary Society; Jill Tarter, Ph.D., co-founder of SETI Institute, astronomer and TED Prize winner; Mae Jemison, M.D., physician, engineer and entrepreneur; Hakeem Oluseyi, Ph.D., TED Fellow and Chief Science Officer, Discovery Channel; Amy Millman, CEO and co-founder Springboard Enterprises; Mmboneni Muofhe, Deputy Director, South African Department of Science and Technology; Pam Contag, Ph.D., CEO, Molecular Sciences Institute; Pete Worden, Ph.D., Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former Director, NASA Ames; and, Kurt Zatloukal, M.D., Professor, Medical University of Graz (Austria),
among others.
Participants include renown
scientists, thinkers, artists, policy makers and celebrities like George Whitesides, CEO, Virgin Galactic; Lou Friedman, Ph.D. astronomer and co-founder of the
Planetary Society; Jill Tarter, Ph.D., co-founder of SETI Institute, astronomer and TED Prize winner; Mae Jemison, M.D., physician, engineer and entrepreneur; Hakeem Oluseyi, Ph.D., TED Fellow and Chief Science Officer, Discovery Channel; Amy Millman, CEO and co-founder Springboard Enterprises; Mmboneni Muofhe, Deputy Director, South African Department of Science and Technology; Pam Contag, Ph.D., CEO, Molecular Sciences Institute; Pete Worden, Ph.D., Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former Director, NASA Ames; and, Kurt Zatloukal, M.D., Professor, Medical University of Graz (Austria),
among others.
Other participants include renown
scientists, thinkers, artists, policy makers and celebrities like George Whitesides, CEO, Virgin Galactic; Mickey Fisher, Creator, EXTANT; Lou Friedman, Ph.D. astronomer and co-founder of the
Planetary Society; Jill Tarter, Ph.D., co-founder of SETI Institute, astronomer and TED Prize winner; Mae Jemison, M.D., physician, engineer and entrepreneur; Hakeem Oluseyi, Ph.D., TED Fellow and Chief Science Officer, Discovery Channel; Amy Millman, CEO and co-founder Springboard Enterprises; Mmboneni Muofhe, Deputy Director, South African Department of Science and Technology; Pam Contag, Ph.D., CEO, Molecular Sciences Institute; Pete Worden, Ph.D., Chairman, Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former Director, NASA Ames; and, Kurt Zatloukal, M.D., Professor, Medical University of Graz (Austria),
among others.
Band 10 brings to ALMA a broad range of capabilities, which —
among other things — enables astronomers and
planetary scientists to study and monitor temperature changes at different altitudes above the clouds of Uranus and other giant planets in our Solar System.
«That announcement generated a backlash
among some people in the astronomy community,» says
planetary scientist Bob Millis, director of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz..