Vesta Is a Baby Planet, Not an Asteroid 107
astroengine writes "Vesta, the second largest object in the main asteroid belt, has an iron core, a varied surface, layers of rock and possibly a magnetic field — all signs of a planet in the making, not an asteroid (abstract). This is the conclusion of an international team of scientists treated to a virtual front row seat at Vesta for the past 10 months, courtesy of NASA's Dawn robotic probe. Their findings were presented during a NASA press conference on Thursday. As to why Vesta never made it to full planethood, scientists point to Jupiter. When the giant gas planet formed, nearby bodies such as Vesta found their orbits perturbed. 'Jupiter started to act like a spoon in a pot, stirring up the asteroid belt and the asteroids started bumping into one another,' said Dawn lead scientist Christopher Russell. 'If they're just out there gently orbiting and everything is going smoothly, then without Jupiter in the picture, they would gather mass and get bigger and bigger and bigger. But with Jupiter there, stirring the pot, then the asteroids start bumping into one another and breaking apart, so nothing grew in that region, but started to shrink.'"
nice try, planetary scientists (Score:4, Funny)
You think this bone you're throwing to Vesta is going to make us forgive what you did to poor Pluto?
Please keep Baby Vesta safe! (Score:4, Funny)
Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson on killing Pluto: 'All I did was drive the getaway car'
http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/26/2903224/dr-neil-degrasse-tyson-killing-pluto-on-the-verge [theverge.com]
Re:Pluto? (Score:3, Funny)
So basically Vesta is Earth's aborted little sister.
Oh great, give the Republicans another excuse to cut science funding.
Re:Pluto? (Score:5, Funny)
Wait, Pluto orbits the Earth now?
Everything orbits the Earth. Heliocentrism is a fraud, brought to use by the same "scientists" as evolution, global warming, and that dubious round-earth theory. :p
Re:Pluto? (Score:2, Funny)
How could someone so obviously clueless about the makeup of our solar system feel compelled to comment on that post?
How could someone so obviously clueless about the makeup of Slashdot feel compelled to comment on that comment?
Re:Pluto Takes Out Neptune (Score:4, Funny)
And if a group of pro-Plutoans happen to make Neptune...disappear...does Pluto still get planetary status?
Re:Pluto? (Score:5, Funny)
It's not a baby planet, it's not a dwarf planet. It's a proto-planet stuck in proto- state due to Jupiter.
I like to think of it as an aborted planet.
Obviously we need to outlaw Jupiter to prevent further proto-planet abortions.. Furthermore, we need full funding of a federal agency to ensure Jupiter isn't available to all wanton sinners who would otherwise bring a planet to full term.
Well, folks, seems to me like we finally figured out how to ensure NASA's budget isn't axed.