Astronomy/Pluto

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Expert: Jayendra Upadhye - 1/6/2006


Question
Hi Jay

I have read that Pluto enters Neptune's orbit.  Please could you tell me what would happen if the two planet's collided?  Would this ever happen?  Would we notice anything here on Earth?

Thank you

Andy

Answer
Hi Andy,
Both neptune and pluto are into a sort of stable resonance situation. (ratio 3:2)
The orbital periods of neptune and pluto are such that they mutually reinforce their orbits and hence have remained in this configuration stably for billions of years.
check it out on the web by typing "orbital resonance neptune and pluto" and you will get many (5100) links.
namely:-
1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_(planet)
2 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_resonance
[do check out lagrangians and tidal locks mentioned here]
and many more links.
hope that suffices.
Jayen

Astronomy

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Jayendra Upadhye

Expertise

1 - General questions on most astronomy topics such as:- Solar system, Cosmology, Black holes, Quasars, Dark matter etc. 2 - General questions about the geologies of planets. 3 - General questions about Orbits and laws governing them. 4 - General questions about rockets / spaceships 5 - General questions about stellar interiors and supernovas.

Experience

I was an askme.com expert rated no#1 for quite some time - and was top ten there by the time it closed - in Astronomy and general science categories.

Education/Credentials
Bachelor of Engg. (Electrical engg), Maharaja Sayajirao university of Baroda, Gujarat, India.

Awards and Honors
None to write about except the askme rating if it is any worth!

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