#Naming features of #Pluto"s #moon #Charon and why it"s major for #scifi #geeks. - http://clapway.com/2015/07/29/geeks-and-nerds-rejoice-features-of-plutos-moon-charon-to-be-named-after-sci-fi-heroes-345/

Features on Pluto’s moon Charon are about to be named after popular science fiction heroes, signaling the end of a long era of geeks and nerds being ridiculed and marginalized by society.

Geeks Going Mainstream

With science fiction television shows and movies like Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek, and X-Men rising in popularity and becoming more and more accepted and loved by society at large over the past few years, it’s no wonder that the names that have been submitted for consideration in the naming of the features on Pluto’s moon, Charon, come from a handful of popular sci-fi universes.

If the names are approved, this would be a huge step forward, and truly a momentous occasion, for all geeks and nerds. Where once they were ridiculed by others for their love of Spock or of The Doctor, the fact that names from the fictional universes of the sci-fi heroes they love are being seriously considered for features of Pluto’s moon Charon is an indication that they might soon no longer have to worry about being marginalized.

Because such names are going to be entering into the mainstream, it means that they will be taught in the future to those who study the celestial bodies within our solar system. This should then instill a natural curiosity as to where those names came from, leading right back to the science fiction universes and the devoted fans who have lived in those universes for such a long time!

The Naming Process

As a result of NASA’s New Horizons space probe making it all the way to Pluto and sending back detailed photographs of Pluto’s moon Charon, a natural excitement built up over the most distant member of our solar system and the many new features discovered on the satellite’s surface. With the discovery of anything, of course, comes the issue of naming things. Because there weren’t any names to choose from, NASA decided to open up the naming process to the public.

The International Astronomical Union, which is in charge of approving the names of celestial bodies, said that the features on Pluto’s moon Charon should have names of fictional destinations, travelers, vessels, explorers, and milestones. In keeping with this theme, long-standing fans of certain science fiction universes were quick to submit names from their favorite sci-fi universes, and the fate of these names are now in the hands of the International Astronomical Union.

The Convergence of Universes on a Single Alien World

If approved by the International Astronomical Union, Pluto’s moon Charon would be home to a convergence of several science fiction universes. For instance, from the Doctor Who universe, one dark region on Charon has been named Gallifrey Macula, after The Doctor’s home world, and a long rift that intersects it has been named Tardis Chasma, after The Doctor’s spaceship and time machine.

In another nearby area, names have been taken from the Star Wars universe, with craters being named (Leia) Organa Crater, Skywalker Crater, and Vader Crater, with Vader Crater being noticeably darker than the other “Star Wars craters” (and rightfully so). On the other side of the Doctor Who universe portion of Pluto’s moon Charon lies the Star Trek universe portion, with a vast plain being named Vulcan Planum, and the craters contained within it being named Spock Crater, Sulu Crater, and Kirk Crater.

If these names for the features of Pluto’s moon Charon are approved by the IAU, it would herald a new age of mainstream acceptance of things that were once marginalized and ridiculed by society and heretofore considered to be solely the domain of geeks and nerds.

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Geeks and Nerds Rejoice! Features of Pluto"s Moon Charon to be Named After Sci-Fi Heroes

Data From New Horizons Brings Pluto"s Planet Classification Back Into Question - http://clapway.com/2015/07/26/data-from-new-horizons-brings-plutos-planet-classification-back-into-question567/

The scientific community loves a good debate, and perhaps one of the most on-again, off-again debates is about Pluto — is it a planet? On Friday, NASA’s planetary scientists jumped back in the debate after revealing that the dwarf planet is geologically active.

New Horizons Pals up with Pluto

In a press conference on Friday, new data from New Horizons indicated that Pluto is, in fact, quite a bit more complex than scientists originally believed.

“It’s very hard not to call an object with this level of complexity in its geology, and such complex seasons, a planet,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator at Southwest Research Institute.

According to the press conference, Pluto has an extensive, hazy atmosphere, and new glacier plains made up of nitrogen ice that are still actively carving away at Pluto’s surface. Scientists originally believed that Pluto was struck by an object so large that it blew bits of its mass away, which created its five moons. Oddly enough, there is no evidence of this impact since the dwarf planet’s surface is clean and almost perfectly spherical.

Making a Case Against Pluto

Back in 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) delisted Pluto as a planet, ‘downgrading’ it to a dwarf planet. However, the original vote was so close that the new information being brought to light by New Horizons might force the IAU to reconsider.

In the original debate, the IAU had defined a planet as having three defining characteristics: it has to orbit around the sun, it must have a spherical shape, and it has to have “cleared the neighborhood” around its orbital plane.

Pluto has always been a little different from the rest of the gang, though. It’s smaller than our own moon, for instance, and it has an incredible elliptical orbit around the Sun, which is unique when compared to all of the other planets.

Unfortunately, it’s the third defining characteristic that puts a heavy damper on letting Pluto join the club again. The dwarf planet is located just in the inner edge of the Kuiper Belt, which is a collection of icy bodies right at the edge of the solar system. The more bodies discovered in the Kuiper Belt, the more the odds stack against the dwarf planet.

NASA Goes to Bat for Pluto

Stern has been poking holes in the IAU’s definition of a planet since 2006, so it’s no surprise that he’s using this new information to further cement his stance on Pluto’s planetship.

As Stern points out, most planets in the Solar System don’t have stable orbits, there are still plenty of asteroids cruising around Earth, Mars, and Jupiter. Last of all, Stern notes that less than five percent of the entire astronomical community voted to delist Pluto.

Despite Stern’s obvious bias, Pluto is getting plenty of support elsewhere, too. New Mexico and Illinois have both passed legislation which defines Pluto as a planet. There is also a lot of public support from people who just want to see the old band get back together.

Unfortunately for Pluto, its fate is tied to New Horizons. As it continues its mission to explore other bodies located in the Kuiper Belt, scientists will have a better understanding of Pluto’s neighbors and decide on a final classification.

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Data From New Horizons Brings Pluto"s Planet Classification Back Into Question