Happy Anniversary, Neptune!

This week, a few days ago, marked one Neptunian year since Neptune was first discovered.

Funny note, a free newspaper I get sometimes claimed it was discovered by William Herschel <g>

Geek stat of the decade. Way to go Nareed.

I'm sorry I missed it, as it will be 67 earth years for the first anniversary of Pluto. Unless something radical happens, I won't be here.

What was Neptune called before we found it?

Quote: pacomartin

Geek stat of the decade. Way to go Nareed.

Seriously? Back in the day people were expected to know these things. Now it seems scientific illiteracy is a fad.

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I'm sorry I missed it, as it will be 67 earth years for the first anniversary of Pluto. Unless something radical happens, I won't be here.

Well, Pluto's not supposed to be a planet enymore, but a mere trans-Neptunian object.

But according to my reading, the orbital anomalies detected in Neptune's orbit, which led to the discovery of Pluto, are not acounted for by Pluto's gravitational influence (it is a rather small, sad specimen, after all). So who knows? There may be a real ninth planet hiding there somewhere. I woulnd't bet on it, but then in the late XIX century I would have bet ont he existence of Vulcan, orbiting the Sun closer than Mercury. Naturally I'd have lost, but the real explanation for the peculiarities in mercury's orbit was more fantastic than a mere superheated planet.

If this sort of thing interests you, Nareed, you should definitely see Seasons 1 and 2 of "The Universe" that the history channel put out. You can get dvd copies pretty cheap on Ebay.

Based on seeing season 2, I have a hunch seasons 3 and 4 may not be worth it. The first two, definitely worth seeing.

Quote: odiousgambit

If this sort of thing interests you, Nareed, you should definitely see Seasons 1 and 2 of "The Universe" that the history channel put out. You can get dvd copies pretty cheap on Ebay.

I saw them until I switched from satellite TV to cable. Sat TV had the History Channel with audio option in english, cable only has it dubbed. I think I ought to switch back. Cable also has the Syfy channel dubbed.

Quote: Nareed

Seriously? Back in the day people were expected to know these things. Now it seems scientific illiteracy is a fad.

I don't think I am scientifically illiterate, and I knew that Neptune had an orbit measured in hundreds of years, but to know that an oribt is 60,190 days is not common knowledge.

It's surprising how many people don't know what causes the seasons.

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Quote: pacomartin

I don't think I am scientifically illiterate,

My apologies. I didn't mean to imply you were, but that all too many people are.

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and I knew that Neptune had an orbit measured in hundreds of years, but to know that an oribt is 60,190 days is not common knowledge.

No, it isn't. Actually I knew neptune had an orbit of "somewhat over 150 years." Who cares about Neptune? But my 4th grade natural sciences teacher would have expected her students to know neptune has an orbit that takes up over 100 Earth years. These days it seems teachers no longer expect their students to know any astronomy at all.

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It's surprising how many people don't know what causes the seasons.

Man. That's the answer to everything bad these days, isn't it? :P As the weather changes throughout the year, that's climate change (formerly known as global warming), and that's bad. So it's all Man's fault.