4 ms·

Earth to have new mini-moon for two months

29 points by geox 2y ago

thepuppet33r 2y ago
I didn't know this, but apparently there isn't scientific criteria for what makes a moon a moon. They better be careful, though, or else we'll have another Pluto situation where we try to classify something and end up classifying it out of its own category.
- atoav 2y ago
  Pluto was more like: 1. We know 9 planets in the Sol solar system 2. Oh shit, there are way more of those small ones, where do we draw the line? Is there a thing differenciating a big asteroid from a planet? 3. Let's go with (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. 4. Pluto doesn't satisfy (c) 5. People get angry without proposing their own criteria
  - foxyv 2y ago
    I think we could have saved a lot of grief just making Pluto an honorary planet. c. Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit excepting Pluto.
    - n4r9 2y ago
      I guess you have to weigh up a couple of decades of annoyance against possibly millennia of caveats.
- j_timberlake 2y ago
  Pluto is a Canis Familiaris, Goofy is a Canis Goofus, I dunno why this confuses people.
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Apocryphon 2y ago
I feel like asking on Quora what the astrological implications are.
toyg 2y ago
I wonder what the chances are that asteroids such as these will actually collide with our moon one day - and what it would mean for the planet.
- toss1 2y ago
  >>Asteroids such as these hitting the moon? Considering this one is 10 meters across and the surface texture of the moon is dominated by impact craters, it seems very likely over time. >>Meaning for the planet? For these types not much, but you do raise a good point that a large asteroid or incoming rock has two targets that could affect the planet. Missing the earth but knocking the moon into a different orbit could have a variety of significant consequences, depending of course on the magnitude and direction of change...

29 points by geox 2y ago

I didn't know this, but apparently there isn't scientific criteria for what makes a moon a moon. They better be careful, though, or else we'll have another Pluto situation where we try to classify something and end up classifying it out of its own category.

atoav 2y ago
Pluto was more like: 1. We know 9 planets in the Sol solar system 2. Oh shit, there are way more of those small ones, where do we draw the line? Is there a thing differenciating a big asteroid from a planet? 3. Let's go with (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit. 4. Pluto doesn't satisfy (c) 5. People get angry without proposing their own criteria
- foxyv 2y ago
  I think we could have saved a lot of grief just making Pluto an honorary planet. c. Has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit excepting Pluto.
  - n4r9 2y ago
    I guess you have to weigh up a couple of decades of annoyance against possibly millennia of caveats.
j_timberlake 2y ago
Pluto is a Canis Familiaris, Goofy is a Canis Goofus, I dunno why this confuses people.

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Apocryphon 2y ago

I feel like asking on Quora what the astrological implications are.

toyg 2y ago

I wonder what the chances are that asteroids such as these will actually collide with our moon one day - and what it would mean for the planet.

toss1 2y ago
>>Asteroids such as these hitting the moon? Considering this one is 10 meters across and the surface texture of the moon is dominated by impact craters, it seems very likely over time. >>Meaning for the planet? For these types not much, but you do raise a good point that a large asteroid or incoming rock has two targets that could affect the planet. Missing the earth but knocking the moon into a different orbit could have a variety of significant consequences, depending of course on the magnitude and direction of change...