We now have 8 planets since Pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet. But did you know that Pluto is not even the largest of the dwarf planets? The knowledge of the Solar System has changed quite a bit in recent decades. When was in high school in the 70’s, I think Jupiter was known to have only 12 moons. Now it has 63.
Here is the order of the planets (8) and dwarf planets (5) along with some interesting facts about each one. By the way, one AU is the distance from the sun to the Earth.
1. Mercury - .38 AU – 4880 km in diameter
2. Venus - .72 AU – 12,100 km
3. Earth – 1 AU – 12,750 km
4. Mars – 1.52 AU – 6800 km
5. Ceres – 2.5-2.9 AU – 950 km
6. Jupiter – 5.2 AU – 143,000 km
7. Saturn – 9.54 AU – 120,500 km
8. Uranus – 19.2 AU – 51,100 km
9. Neptune – 30 AU – 49,500 km
10. Pluto – 29-49 AU – 2274 km in diameter
11. Haumea - 35-51 AU – 1400 km
12. Makemake - 38-53 AU – 1500 km
13. Eris – 96.7 AU – 2450 km in diameter
Not all of the planets have moons and some of the moons have not yet been named.
Earth – 1 – the moon
Mars – 2 – Phobos, Deimos
Jupiter – 63 – Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Themisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, Carpo, Euporie, Orthosie, Euanthe, Thyone, Mneme, Harpalyke, Hermippe, Praxidike, Thelxinoe, Iocaste, Ananke, Arche, Pasithee, Chaldene, Kale, Isonoe, Aitne, Erinome, Taygete, Carme, Kalyke, Eukelade, Kallichore, Helike, Eurydome, Autonoe, Sponde, Pasiphae, Megaclite, Sinope, Hegemone, Aoede, Callirrhoe, Cyllene, Kore
Saturn – 60 – Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Methone, Anthe, Pallene, Enceladus, Telesto, Tethys, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Polydeuces, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, Kiviuq, Ijiraq, Phoebe, Paaliaq, Skathi, Albiorix, Bebhionn, Erriapo, Siarnaq, Skoll, Tarvos, Tarqeq, Greip, Hyrrokkin, Mundilfari, Jarnsaxa, Narvi, Bergelmir, Suttungr, Hati, Bestla, Farbauti, Thrymr, Aegir, Kari, Fenrir, Surtur, Ymir, Loge, Fornjot
Uranus – 27 – Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck, Mab. Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Francisco, Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Sycorax, Margaret, Prospero, Setebos, Ferdinand
Neptune – 13 – Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Triton, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia, Psamathe, Neso
Pluto – 3 – Charon, Nix, Hydra
Haumea – 2 - Hi’iaka, Namaka
Eris – 1 – Dysnomia
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Units of Time Part III
What about units of time that are shorter than one second? This topic enters the realm of physics and some of these units are used as measurements of half-life of elements and the amount of time it takes to do things that people don't ordinarily think about. Here are some definitions:
Centisecond – 1/100 of a second – the length of time a single frame is displayed on a tv
Millisecond – 1/1000 second – a blink of an eye
Microsecond – a millionth of a second
Shake – about 10 nanoseconds – the time it takes a lamb to shake its tail
Nanosecond – a billionth of a second – light travels about a foot in one of these
Picosecond – a trillionth
Femtosecond – a quadrillionth
Attosecond – a quintillionth
Zeptosecond – a sextillionth
Yoctosecond – a septillionth
Planck time – This is the smallest unit. It is the time it would take a photon traveling at the speed of light to go the distance equal to a Planck length. It is the "quantum of time", the smallest measurement of time that has any meaning, and is equal to 10 to the minus 43 seconds. A Planck length is the "quantum of length", the smallest measurement of length with any meaning. It is about 10 to the minus 20 times the size of a proton. It would take a bit of study in physics to understand what this really means.
And a few more second-based time units that are larger than a second. By anyone's reckoning, some of these have not yet happened even once.
Kilosecond – 1000 seconds – 16.7 minutes
Megasecond – 1,000,000 seconds – 11.6 days
Gigasecond – 1 billion seconds – 32 years
Terasecond – 1 trillion seconds – 32,000 years
Petasecond – 1 quadrillion seconds – 32 million years
Exasecond – 1 quintillion seconds - 32 billion years
Zettasecond – 1 sextillion seconds - 32 trillion years
Yottaseonds – 1 septillion seconds - 32 quadrillion years
Centisecond – 1/100 of a second – the length of time a single frame is displayed on a tv
Millisecond – 1/1000 second – a blink of an eye
Microsecond – a millionth of a second
Shake – about 10 nanoseconds – the time it takes a lamb to shake its tail
Nanosecond – a billionth of a second – light travels about a foot in one of these
Picosecond – a trillionth
Femtosecond – a quadrillionth
Attosecond – a quintillionth
Zeptosecond – a sextillionth
Yoctosecond – a septillionth
Planck time – This is the smallest unit. It is the time it would take a photon traveling at the speed of light to go the distance equal to a Planck length. It is the "quantum of time", the smallest measurement of time that has any meaning, and is equal to 10 to the minus 43 seconds. A Planck length is the "quantum of length", the smallest measurement of length with any meaning. It is about 10 to the minus 20 times the size of a proton. It would take a bit of study in physics to understand what this really means.
And a few more second-based time units that are larger than a second. By anyone's reckoning, some of these have not yet happened even once.
Kilosecond – 1000 seconds – 16.7 minutes
Megasecond – 1,000,000 seconds – 11.6 days
Gigasecond – 1 billion seconds – 32 years
Terasecond – 1 trillion seconds – 32,000 years
Petasecond – 1 quadrillion seconds – 32 million years
Exasecond – 1 quintillion seconds - 32 billion years
Zettasecond – 1 sextillion seconds - 32 trillion years
Yottaseonds – 1 septillion seconds - 32 quadrillion years
Monday, October 13, 2008
Units of Time - Part II
And now, continuing some thoughts on this very important matter - units of time. Please read part I first if you haven't already done so.
There are much more interesting units of time that are longer than a second because they are not precise measures ot time.
For instance, there is the "while". "How long will you be"? "Oh, a while". How long is a while? It depends on whether it is a short while, a long while, or just a while. I think a "short while" can be anywhere from a few minutes to about an hour and a half. A long while could be anywhere from several hours to a number of years. A regular while is somewhere inbetween and they no doubt overlap. Whiles are never plural. As in "I'll be away from home for two short whiles". Would two short whiles be equal to one while? How many whiles are in a long while? Do whales care about this at all?
How about a jiffy. This word is not used much today. I have never heard of a short jiffy or a long jiffy, just a jiffy. Like whiles, jiffies aren't plural and therefore can't be combined. "I'll be gone for a while and two jiffies." Oddly, a jiffy in some circles is a precise time interval of .01 seconds and in others, it is a precise 1/50th or 1/60 of a second (someone needs to make up their mind). However, it is more commonly intended to mean a very short but not a precise amount of time. What does a jiffy have to do with peanut butter or popcorn?
It is strange but both "minute" and "second" are sometimes used to refer to an amount of time that is not precise as in "I'll be there in a minute" or "just a second". Oddly, this doesn't bother me.
How about a "coon's age"? How long is that. How long does a raccoon live anyway? Well, it's about 5-7 years but the phrase could simply mean a long time and how long that is depends on the context. "I haven't seen you in a coon's age". Seems like that could be weeks, months or years.
A month of Sundays. Whoa. I suppose this could be 28, 29, 30, or 31 weeks. But it's really just another lengthy and indefinite amount of time - somewhat less than a coon's age. "I haven't seen a raccoon in a month of Sundays".
Speaking of ages, it's been ages since I lived in Chicago. How long is "ages"?
Can you think of any more? Take a short while and add a post to this one that shows your ability to waist a little time (or a lot of time, or a short while or a few jiffies). Once you send your posting, it will be on the blog in a New York minute (the time it takes from when the traffic light turns green, till the guy behind you starts honking his horn").
There are much more interesting units of time that are longer than a second because they are not precise measures ot time.
For instance, there is the "while". "How long will you be"? "Oh, a while". How long is a while? It depends on whether it is a short while, a long while, or just a while. I think a "short while" can be anywhere from a few minutes to about an hour and a half. A long while could be anywhere from several hours to a number of years. A regular while is somewhere inbetween and they no doubt overlap. Whiles are never plural. As in "I'll be away from home for two short whiles". Would two short whiles be equal to one while? How many whiles are in a long while? Do whales care about this at all?
How about a jiffy. This word is not used much today. I have never heard of a short jiffy or a long jiffy, just a jiffy. Like whiles, jiffies aren't plural and therefore can't be combined. "I'll be gone for a while and two jiffies." Oddly, a jiffy in some circles is a precise time interval of .01 seconds and in others, it is a precise 1/50th or 1/60 of a second (someone needs to make up their mind). However, it is more commonly intended to mean a very short but not a precise amount of time. What does a jiffy have to do with peanut butter or popcorn?
It is strange but both "minute" and "second" are sometimes used to refer to an amount of time that is not precise as in "I'll be there in a minute" or "just a second". Oddly, this doesn't bother me.
How about a "coon's age"? How long is that. How long does a raccoon live anyway? Well, it's about 5-7 years but the phrase could simply mean a long time and how long that is depends on the context. "I haven't seen you in a coon's age". Seems like that could be weeks, months or years.
A month of Sundays. Whoa. I suppose this could be 28, 29, 30, or 31 weeks. But it's really just another lengthy and indefinite amount of time - somewhat less than a coon's age. "I haven't seen a raccoon in a month of Sundays".
Speaking of ages, it's been ages since I lived in Chicago. How long is "ages"?
Can you think of any more? Take a short while and add a post to this one that shows your ability to waist a little time (or a lot of time, or a short while or a few jiffies). Once you send your posting, it will be on the blog in a New York minute (the time it takes from when the traffic light turns green, till the guy behind you starts honking his horn").
Units of Time - Part I
And now, on to a very important matter - units of time.
The other day, I got to wondering about this topic and have hereby compiled a list of various units of time that are longer than a second and are almost always the same length.
A minute consists of 60 seconds.
An hour consists of 60 of those.
A day consists of 24 of those.
A week consists of 7 of those.
A fortnight consists of 2 of those.
A month consists of, hmm, not always the same like the others. Sometimes 28 days, sometimes 29, 30, or 31. There was one month that only had 20 - September of 1752.
A quarter consists of 3 months.
A year consists of 12 months.
A decade takes 10 years to go by.
A presidential election cycle seems to fall here somwhere.
A century is ten decades.
A millennium, ten of those.
The other day, I got to wondering about this topic and have hereby compiled a list of various units of time that are longer than a second and are almost always the same length.
A minute consists of 60 seconds.
An hour consists of 60 of those.
A day consists of 24 of those.
A week consists of 7 of those.
A fortnight consists of 2 of those.
A month consists of, hmm, not always the same like the others. Sometimes 28 days, sometimes 29, 30, or 31. There was one month that only had 20 - September of 1752.
A quarter consists of 3 months.
A year consists of 12 months.
A decade takes 10 years to go by.
A presidential election cycle seems to fall here somwhere.
A century is ten decades.
A millennium, ten of those.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Disgusting
Someone stole our McCain sign from our front yard today. We happen to be sitting by the front window when it happened and Heather heard the guy and ran out and yelled at him. He dropped the sign in the street and kept going. A neighbor's McCain sign was replaced with an Obama one. They weren't home tonight. We called the police and they have been crusing the neighborhood.
No matter who one favors for president, there is just no excuse for this kind of behavior.
No matter who one favors for president, there is just no excuse for this kind of behavior.
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