A planet larger than Pluto has been found beyond the orbit of Neptune. Tentatively designated 2003UB313, its orbit is inclinec 45 degrees to the system ecliptic and is currently at 97 AU from the sun. Current estimates are that it is 1 1/2 times the size of Pluto, hence the designation of "planet". Otherwise, given it's distance and the tilt of its orbit, it would be considered a Kuiper belt object. The news stories, however, are refering to it as the "10th planet".

2003UB313 was found by Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo and David Rabinowitz using the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope at the Palomar Observatory. The reports state that it can be seen with the larger amateur telescopes in the early morning in the constellation Cetus.



In other news and somewhat overdue, Discovery launched on Thursday morning in what seemed to me to be a flawless launch. Once she had made orbit and the astronauts began their exhaustive rounds of imaging the external tank and the shuttle itself, it became apparent that some pieces of insulation foam had fallen off. No significant damage has been found on Discovery herself. But NASA has put all future shuttle flights on hold indefinitely until they get this entire foam thing resolved. So once again, we're grounded.