Pluto's curse named at last
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The space rock formerly known as Xena The distant rock which prompted astronomers to strip Pluto of its planethood has been offically named Eris, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced Wednesday.â¦
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The dwarf planet formerly known as Xena received a new name, while Pluto was given a number to reflect the loss of its status as a planet.
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Traces of plutonium from nuclear tests in Nevada 50 years ago can be traced in British soil, scientists are to reveal.
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The state of New Mexico  could effectively secede from the astronomical community if a resolution to call Pluto a planet is passed.
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Astronomers have given Pluto an official number to represent its downgraded status as a "dwarf planet." The icy body nicknamed "Xena" has also received an official name: Eris.
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NASA -- When the National Research Council recommended Solar System exploration goals for 2000-2010, the number one priority was sending a probe to explore Pluto and an area just beyond it known as the Kuiper Belt.     NASA plans to make that goal a reality...
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By Jeremy Manier, Chicago Tribune  Sep. 15--Lucy Lawless, take heart.   Astronomers may have given a snub to the TV actress who starred in "Xena: Warrior Princess," when they conferred a new name on a Pluto-sized world they'd previously nicknamed Xena.
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New York Times News Service - 10/21/04. NEW YORK - They had been reliable caretakers of a cosmic curse, feasting for decades on the gift that kept on giving: Babe Ruth, purchased from the
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The first direct image of a planet circling another star may have been obtained by a US-European team of astronomers.
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Astronomers are rubbing their eyes after discovering that a galaxy assumed to have been a giant for the past 23 years is in fact a dwarf, according to new observations.
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Gabe: A few eagle eyed viewers noticed that I accidentally drew a Nebulon-B frigate in today's comic. Gabe mentions the Mon Calamari and the Corellians but the Nebulon-B is actually produced by the Kuat Drive Yards.I deeply regret the mistake and I have since corrected it in the comic by replacing the original drawing with one of the Mon Calamari Cruiser "Liberty", sadly lost in the Battle of Endor . I am in no way trying to diminish the Nebulon-B frigate or the fine craftsmanship of the dedicated workers employed by KDY. Again I apologize for any inconvenience or offence my carelessness may have caused.  -Gabe out
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Fifty years after the launch of Sputnik  kicked off the Space Age, an ultra-modern probe heading for Pluto is using retro Sputnik-like tones to communicate with Earth.
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A new scientific model suggests ancient radioactive decay played a key role in shaping the geyser-spewing region of Enceladus, one of Saturn's many moons. By the Associated Press.
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The IAU's recent decision to retain Pluto as a planet was a political attempt to catch up with two trends: the recent discoveries by Mike Brown and his colleagues of new planetary objects, and a growing unease about Pluto's place in the classical notion of what a planet is. Whether or not they made the right decision about Pluto is rather pointless, as there are certainly more important things astronomers have to worry about. Although it is controversial amongst astronomers. And think of those poor astrologers and their horoscopes: "Your Libra is in the House of Quaoar. So, um, that makes you very cold and distant?"  If Pluto gets called a Planet or a Pluton or a Salami Sandwich in children's textbooks just isn't that important in the larger scheme of things. So certainly, the IAU got it right, for now: just let popular and historical notions hold sway. However, the IAU did not address a third trend on the horizon: we are beginning to discover planets outside of our solar system. This means our traditional notion of what a planet is and isn't is about to be challenged in a whole new bunch of ways that Pluto and Mike Brown could never muster. We are going to be exposed to a whole new cornucopia of exotic objects orbiting other stars in the next few decades. In this regard, the IAU's recent Solar Sytem-centric and politically rendered decisions just don't cut it.
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Pluto loses its claim to being the biggest dwarf planet after being outranked by newcomer Eris.
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A small spacecraft en  route to Pluto flew past Jupiter early on Wednesday, picking up  enough speed from the giant planet's gravity field to shave  three years off what would have been a 12-year voyage.
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LAUREL, Md. -- NASA's New Horizon's space probe was pointed toward Pluto and the frozen, sunless reaches of the solar system on a nine-year journey after getting a gravity boost Wednesday from Jupiter.