Can anyone confirm whether Pluto and Neptune will ever be in close enough proximity to collide within the lifetime of the Sun?
(You will have to excuse me for not being aware of each planet's coordintes relative to the Sun, their velocities, factors that may affect such measuremants, etc.)
2006-08-25 10:28:26 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
I was wondering that myself, and I can't but think that that would make for an AWESOME light show.
2006-08-25 10:33:39 · answer #1 · answered by Archangel 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is a common misconception. Yes, Pluto and Neptune do have 'crossing' orbits. At times Pluto can be closer to the sun than Neptune is. But the problem with the collision scenario is that it can simply never happen. Not because of velocities or anything, but simply because they never physically cross each other's orbits. Pluto has a much higher inclination to the 'plane' of the solar system than Neptune does. So they travel around the sun on two different levels.
This is a problem that comes from poor visualization on flat pieces of paper. Its hard to see what actually happens when the orbital lines cross each other, but if you go download a free planetarium software you can see in 3-D that Neptune and Pluto never physically cross with each other.
*Good question!
2006-08-25 10:35:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Also, for every three times Neptune orbits the Sun, Pluto orbits 2 times. So when Pluto is crossing Neptune's orbit, Neptune is on the other side of the Sun.
2006-08-25 10:45:26 · answer #3 · answered by kris 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
not really because they cross that means the order the planets will be when they cross...
Mercury
Venus
earth
mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Pluto
Neptune
but it takes about 300 earth years for Pluto to orbit so it will never pass the sun in our lifetime but Neptune is slightly less so its ahead of Pluto
2006-08-25 21:27:59 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They will eventually crash because there are tiny ripples of particles in the Galaxy that send matter towards the sun. A slow but sure build-up of matter will upset the orbit of one or both of these "planets" and there will be an almighty collusion. Whether it would fan out and cause other worlds (including ours) to deploy is another matter.The estimated timescale for all this is about half a million years. Don't stick around is what I say!
2006-08-25 10:59:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
no, i don't think so. those two are the furtherest from the sun.
sun, mercury, venus, earth, mars, jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune, pluto
2006-08-25 10:35:43 · answer #6 · answered by Tommy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2006-08-25 10:35:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋