Neptune - New Moon Discovered

[Mysterion]

Read about it here: http://news.yahoo.com/astronomer-finds-moon-orbiting-neptune-211329016.html

IAU is gonna have to gear-up for another round of "Name The Moon".

 

[Sir Rhosis]

Thanks for the link. How small can an object be and still be considered a "moon.?"

Sir Rhosis

 

[Pavonis]

I don't think size is a consideration for defining "moon", just its orbit.

 

[Metryq]

I don't think size is a consideration for defining "moon", just its orbit.

In other words, is it big enough to go to the trouble of naming it, and how many of them are there? (Imagine trying to name every fleck of dust in orbit around Saturn.)

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

That's no moon...

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Since Pluto's demotion, I've believed there should be some limitations on what could be considered a moon.

Otherwise, like Metryq said, every rock bigger than a baseball in Saturn's rings could be called a moon.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Since Pluto's demotion, I've believed there should be some limitations on what could be considered a moon.

Otherwise, like Metryq said, every rock bigger than a baseball in Saturn's rings could be called a moon.

"Every rock bigger than a baseball in Saturn's rings" wouldn't show up as a distinct object in a telescope, though, and therefore wouldn't be identified and named and wouldn't be considered a moon.

It's sorta like the definition of "Island." The cutoff seems to be mostly arbitrary, but a good rule of thumb is that if it's too small to be labeled on a map, it's probably not really an island.

Significantly, Jupiter has something like 60 moons, but astronomers -- and anyone else, for that matter -- only really care about the four major ones, the rest are just puny little asteroids zipping about in random orbits.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

"Every rock bigger than a baseball in Saturn's rings" wouldn't show up as a distinct object in a telescope, though, and therefore wouldn't be identified and named and wouldn't be considered a moon.

Until we get bigger telescopes or get closer to Saturn

 

[Metryq]

Until we get bigger telescopes or get closer to Saturn

Or someone starts "selling" naming rights to gullible people over the Web for each grain of dust in the rings -- claiming they have a way to track and database all of it. (I vaguely recall something of this sort -- selling naming rights of craters or very low magnitude stars to the public for a fee.)

 

[Colonel Midnight]

IIRC, the general trend (or is it international reg?) is for moons of Neptune to be named after sea gods, etc. Any suggestions out there?

Cheers,
-CM-

 

[Robert Comsol]

I don't think size is a consideration for defining "moon", just its orbit.

I doubt that general audiences will have that in mind. Whatever happened to good ol' "satellite"?

Bob

 

[iguana_tonante]

IIRC, the general trend (or is it international reg?) is for moons of Neptune to be named after sea gods, etc. Any suggestions out there?

Cheers,
-CM-

Michael Phelps?

 

[scotpens]

IIRC, the general trend (or is it international reg?) is for moons of Neptune to be named after sea gods, etc. Any suggestions out there?

Michael Phelps?

Esther Williams!

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Spongebob Squarepants

 

[Mysterion]

IIRC, the general trend (or is it international reg?) is for moons of Neptune to be named after sea gods, etc. Any suggestions out there?

Cheers,
-CM-

How about stepping away from European/Mediterranean mythology and calling it Tangaroa after the figure in Maori mythology? Enough of the Greeks and Romans, already.

Wiki link for the curious: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangaroa

Oh, and a "funny" answer I tried to resist, but am typing here anyway: Zissou.

 

[Noname Given]

I say they call it: 'Kraken'

That way if/when it escapes Neptune's obit, the headline will read:

"Neptune has released the Kraken!"

 

[Metryq]

You keep kraken jokes like that... and we'll have to keelhaul you the long way, just to show you we mean business!

 

[publiusr]

Now this is a bit more interesting:

http://www.universetoday.com/103002/uranus-is-being-chased-by-asteroids/
http://news.discovery.com/space/alien-life-exoplanets/diamond-oceans-jupiter-uranus.htm
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/carbon-99d.html

Uranus was knocked on its side by a massive collsion, and I would not be surprised if these rocks were the result. Being in unstable orbits means that they may be removed if you can get a large enough spacecraft out to it. They may just be diamond rich. A diamond asteroid in a horseshoe orbit just needs a little more delta vee and off it goes.

http://cosmoquest.org/forum/showthr...se-Plasma-Thrusters-to-Leave-Our-Solar-System

I wonder if some of Neptune's new moons are ripe for harvesting as well.
I guess the can be called ice giants for a different reason too, now.