[QUOTE=jinydu]And for some unknown reason, it seems that the (proposed?) name of the "planet" has now been made public.[/QUOTE]"Xena" isn't the proposed official name; it's just an informal nickname that has never been a secret. :-)

It's only natural that many journalists are going to use the nickname "Xena" instead of the official temporary designation "2003 UB313".

[quote=cheesehead]There remain many things an amateur astronomer, even a relative beginner, can valuably contribute.[/quote] You mean like the guy in Illinois who has applied to the IAU for status as a planet ?
In his application he allegedly said, “I’ve put on a few pounds these past couple of years, but I’m clearly below the limiting mass for thermonuclear fusion, and I orbit the sun, obviously, so technically I qualify.”

Only in America :wink:

[QUOTE=cheesehead]There remain many things an amateur astronomer, even a relative beginner, can valuably contribute.)[/QUOTE]If you want NASA's explanation of the type of lunar eclipse observation I made in December 1963 [i]and which can still be a valuable contribution by amateur astronomers[/i], see "Crater Timings During Lunar Eclipses" at [url="http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/crater/Crater.html"]http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/crater/Crater.html[/url]

Perhaps you're wondering about the scientific importance. It provides a way to measure the opacity of Earth's atmosphere. When hundreds of amateurs' timings are statistically analyzed, the averages provide a way to calculate how much sunlight was absorbed by dust in the Earth's atmosphere as that light skimmed through on its way to the Moon.

Among other things, this can be used in predicting global warming.

In December 1963, there had just been a large volcanic eruption that sent vast amounts of ash and dust into the air. Scientists knew that would increase opacity, but eclipse crater timing is a method of quantitatively measuring how much.

10th Planet Discovered.
 

[QUOTE=cheesehead]"Xena" isn't the proposed official name; it's just an informal nickname that has never been a secret. :-)

It's only natural that many journalists are going to use the nickname "Xena" instead of the official temporary designation "2003 UB313".[/QUOTE]
:unsure: Asfaik it is now officially declared the name is Zena as its more practical than an 'insignifcant' number which will not remain for long in memory except for number freaks.
Whats more they have now found a moon encircling it and named it Gabrielle!
Mally :coffee:

10th Planet Discovered.
 

FYI: :rolleyes:
The Indian Vedic scholars had theorised 10 planets centuries ago.
The extra planet named Rahu plays an important part in their astrological zodiacs :whistle:
Mally :coffee:

[QUOTE=mfgoode] Asfaik it is now officially declared the name[/quote]No, "Xena" is an [u]un[/u]official name. As I explained above, the [u]official[/u] name will be decided by the International Astronomical Union.

[quote]is Zena as its more practical than an 'insignifcant' number which will not remain for long in memory except for number freaks.[/quote]I agree that many people will use the nickname "Xena" for now; that doesn't make it the official name.

[quote]Whats more they have now found a moon encircling it and named it Gabrielle[/QUOTE]Again, an unofficial nickname, not an official name, that will be popularly used for now.

It's in the news again!

[QUOTE=clowns789]It's in the news again![/QUOTE]

Really? Where?

Pluto has had an airing in this thread as well as the new "planet" and I wonder if it means this:
[url]http://au.news.yahoo.com/060120/2/xnr2.html[/url]

New information on the "10th planet":

[url]http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/127/1[/url]

10th Planet Discovered.
 

:smile: here is some more jen on the rocky planet discovered. Note the method of discovery,-micro-lensing- which is an entirely new procedure to the discovery of future planets.

[url]http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060125_smallest_planet.html[/url]
Mally :coffee: