An international team of astronomers, led by Felipe Braga-Ribas (Observatório Nacional/MCTI, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), has used telescopes at seven locations in South America, including the 1.54-metre Danish and TRAPPIST telescopes at ESO’s La Silla Observatory in Chile, to make a surprise discovery in the outer Solar System.

This unexpected result raises several unanswered questions and is expected to provoke much debate. A press conference will be held in Brazil to present the new results and allow opportunities for questions.

Note that all information regarding these findings is under strict embargo until 19:00 CET (15:00 BRT) on Wednesday 26 March 2014.

The conference will be held on 26 March 2014 at 14:30 local time (BRT) and will take place in Portuguese with a summary in English.

http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann14021/

Perhaps they found a planet.

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and TRAPPIST telescopes

Like the sound of that...:)

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rOZZ
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and TRAPPIST telescopes

Like the sound of that...:)

So they found beer?



I wonder why the secrecy? The gravity wave discovery was known before the official announcement.

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This 'pre-announcement' is worded is a rather provocative and intriguing way. What is it that could be discovered in the outer solar system that would be 'surprising' to astronomers? Why should it be expected to 'provoke much debate' ?

I thought everyone knew that already....

Old news...;)

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rOZZ
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An alien civilization in a huge space ship, is coming into our solar system, to occupy this planet. They've been invited by president Putin of Russia, to help him defeat the US once and for all.

I thought everyone knew that already....

I thought of "Rendezvous with Rama" when I saw this thread. Maybe we are being invaded or maybe the aliens are just using the sun for a gravity assist to go somewhere else. They don't know we are here and they don't care.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

An alien civilization in a huge space ship, is coming into our solar system, to occupy this planet. They've been invited by president Putin of Russia, to help him defeat the US once and for all.

I thought everyone knew that already....

I thought of "Rendezvous with Rama" when I saw this thread. Maybe we are being invaded or maybe the aliens are just using the sun for a gravity assist to go somewhere else. They don't know we are here and they don't care.

Slingshot around the sun...Quite a boost that must give:) I wouldn't say they don't know and care though...We really don't know that.

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rOZZ
Music
Pictures

Isn't this exciting! :) Perhaps they've found where all our missing socks have gone :) I won't hold my breath on that one though... Thanks for posting it Yo! :)

Maybe they have found Nemesis or Tyche.

In Arthur C. Clarke's book "Rendezvous with Rama" a cylindrical object was spotted coming into the solar system. World governments began to panic being afraid that earth was about to be invaded. I will skip to the end where it was found that the "aliens" had no prior knowledge of our existence and were merely using the sun for a gravity assist to go somewhere else. Of course our attempts to intercept the craft alerted them to our existence and they came back later.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

I haven't read it yet. It's in my TODO list. But I have read a summary.

It seems like Mr Braga-Ribas studies trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs using stellar occultation.

It seems like Mr Braga-Ribas studies trans-Neptunian objects and Centaurs using stellar occultation.

That's probably it, another object that they will say is a planet and others will say it isn't.

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Most likely another dwarf planet gets added to the list.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

In 1852 these asteroids were classified as planets.
Ceres
Pallas
Juno
Vesta
Astraea
Hebe
Iris
Flora
Metis
Hygiea
Parthenope
Victoria
Egeria
Irene
Eunomia

Astronomy tests are still getting easier now that Pluto is off the list. It makes one wonder what we are taught today will be proven wrong tomorrow.

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It makes one wonder what we are taught today will be proven wrong tomorrow.

This wasn't an error or "wrong"... it was simply a redefinition/reclassification of what a planet is.

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It makes one wonder what we are taught today will be proven wrong tomorrow.

This wasn't an error or "wrong"... it was simply a redefinition/reclassification of what a planet is.

The size was way off when they were first discovered. They thought they were much bigger then they are. So I wonder as our ability to observe improves what else was miscalculated. Didn't Pluto get dropped as a planet because of better observation methods of its orbit?

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Details of the new discovery concerning by far the largest Centaur asteroid/comet, Chariklo, which orbits between Saturn and Uranus:
http://aerospace.firetrench.com/2014/03/20-seconds-that-changed-our-understanding-of-the-solar-system-surprise-discovery-of-double-ring-system-around-asteroid-like-body/

Wow, how an object this small can have rings?

More info:

http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1410/

http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann14022/