this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2024
476 points (99.0% liked)

Astronomy

4017 readers
1 users here now

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 67 points 3 months ago (4 children)

What is Pluto doing so close to Australia?

That shouldn't be allowed. Someone tell it to go back to it's usual orbit, this is not on.

[–] Agent641 24 points 3 months ago

Fuck off Pluto, we're full!

[–] makyo 9 points 3 months ago

You didn't know they had a thing? It lasted until Australia found out Pluto wasn't really a planet.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 59 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Still, the surface area is much bigger. Pluto is a real continent

[–] [email protected] 36 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Discreetly insulting both Australia and Pluto in one sentence! Absolutely love this; will share it with all my Australia and Plutonian friends! If Earth gets attacked, it's not my fault, but yours :'P

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If Australia attacks Earth you’ll know you’ve been attacked.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] UnderpantsWeevil 30 points 3 months ago (1 children)

First they came for Pluto's planethood.

Next they're coming for Australia's continenthood.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago

When they came for Pluto, I said nothing because I wasn't a planet
When they came for Australia, I said nothing because I wasn't a continent
When they came for Bielefeld, I said nothing because I wasn't a city
When they came for me, there was no one left to say anything

– Martin Niemöller

[–] CM400 26 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Wow, Pluto has approximately the same surface area as Russia

[–] HootinNHollerin 10 points 3 months ago

And now putin starts pumping out propaganda that pluto used to be russian

[–] Burn_The_Right 24 points 3 months ago (6 children)

So... Does this mean Australia is no longer a continent?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago

Dwarf continent

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Or does it mean Australia is a planet?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Australia would have to round up its edges and clear it's orbit of little islands before being called a planet.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Buddahriffic 4 points 3 months ago (2 children)

If that photo was taken right before impact, none of the continents will remain continents because it's all about to melt and we might have another moon when everything settles down and we evolve back from scratch over the next several billion years.

[–] Burn_The_Right 7 points 3 months ago

The only survivors would be Australia's infamous Magma Spiders.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 months ago

Honestly never had a clue. Thanks for the share.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Pluto is still a sphere, this is an unfair comparison because Pluto hasn't been unwrapped

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Fun fact: the surface area of Pluto is only about 4% larger than Russia.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

So thats why Russia wanted to expand

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago (2 children)

And thats why you'll never be a real planet!

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Heresy! Australia will always be a planet.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

No! Austria will never be a planet nor continent. It is a white, European country and I'm willing to die on that hill!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Absolute size isn't really in the criteria for a planet though. Pluto isn't a planet because it shares its orbit with lots of other icy bodies in the Kuiper belt.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Exactly. That's also why Jupiter, which shares its orbit with thousands of asteroids, isn't a planet either.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Do you mean the Trojans? They're excluded from the mass calculation of 'clearing the neighbourhood' because they're in a resonant orbit - their orbit is a consequence of Jupiter's mass.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I don't know. I don't think we should make excuses for Jupiter just because of its size. Pluto's doing the best it can. Could any of us do any better, so far out from the sun?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Jupiter does throw its weight around a bit too much.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

No shit? Wow, it's amazing that we were even able to find it.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Even more amazing that it was found in the era it was. People were pouring over the skies looking for the next big planet, and instead they found this little guy.

There are still some orbital dynamics suggestions that something large and dark is lurking out there -- an ice giant. But it's still largely conjecture. It'd be interesting to see how they define it should they find something very large (say Neptune mass), but it hasn't cleared its orbit. Is it a planet or not? :D

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Actually 🤓 it was James Cook who found Australia and he didn't go there by ski but by ship and he didn't find one little guy but exterminated a whole indigenous population

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Ah shit, a switcheroo!

[–] Buddahriffic 4 points 3 months ago

They only found it because it's more like a binary dwarf planet system than a planet/moon system, so the telescopes were able to pick up light reflected from both Pluto and Charron, while Pluto alone might have not been bright enough.

[–] cosmicrose 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This picture is inaccurate, Pluto is actually much farther away.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

No it's just really small

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

As a former Plutonian, I can confirm it's small, that's why we immigrated to Earth. And fucking cold!

[–] samus12345 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] johsny 15 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Small little fucker, no wonder it’s not a planet anymore.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Straya's never been a planet, mate.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Yeah, but it is a pretty big island.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] lemonmelon 14 points 3 months ago (5 children)

What is this, a planet for ants?!

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

I have this Tshirt

I get groans

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Hey wtf put Pluto back to where it belongs. Do you have any idea how bad this is for the world economics???

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Still can't unsee Pluto(the dog) on Pluto

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Meanwhile, Australia is down there like "WTF mate?"

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Take that King Flippy Nips!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

introscene for the next mecha anime confirmed

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Is Neil deGrasse Tyson hiding somewhere in Australia?!

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›