NASA scientists recently announced that in November 2003 they have discovered a new object in the solar system that they named named '2003 VB12' or 'Sedna', after the Inuit goddess who created the sea creatures of the Arctic. Sedna is called a 'planetoid', because it does not meet the requirements for a planet. It has a diameter of 800-1100 miles (Pluto: 1400 miles), and probably constist of rock and ice. Its path is highly ellipitical and well beyond the Kuiper Belt. Sedna's current distance from the Earth is about 3x the distance of Pluto. One year on Sedna takes 10,500 Earth years. Sedna may be the first body to be discovered in the Oort Cloud, a hypothetical region of icy objects that become comets.

The Kuiper Belt is an icy asteroid belt just beyond Neptune. Recently discovered Kuiper Belt objects are Quaoar and 2004 DW.

Other Links:
Sedna legend
Homepage of Chad Trujillo
Tenagra Observatories: Amateur Telescope


Snippets:
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Photography: Artist: Ryan McGinley. Pictures at Bailey Fine Arts, Toronto, CA.
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Video: Through a Glass Darkly (1961).Original Title: Sasom i en spegel. B&W, 89 min. Directed by Ingmar Bergman. w/ Harriet Andersson (Karin), Gunnar Bjoernstrand (David, her father), Max von Sydow (Martin, her husband), Lars Passgard (Minus, her brother). Swedish w/ English subtitles. Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1962. Schizophric woman vacations with her loving husband, dryly depressed father, and adolescent brother on an island. In her delusion and hallucinations, she believes to encounter God in the form of a terrifying spider. Anderson is highly believable in her role. The film is heavy to swallow, but the cinematography (by Sven Nykvist) and acting are excellent. My rating: 7 out of 10. First film in a religious trilogy (Winter Light, The Silence).
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Essay: William Kingdon Clifford (mathematician, philosopher of science, 1845-1879): The Ethics of Belief (1877). "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence". However, Clifford does not provide a whole lot of evidence himself ... so is it right to believe him? :-) Other documents from the Historical Library and the Modern Library.
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Composer: Laura Andel: between jazz and classical music
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Book: Caroline Alexander: The Endurance - Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition. w/ photographs by Frank Hurley. Tells the story of Shackleton's failed expedition in 1914-16 and the incredible achievements that lead to their rescue from Elephant Island. Hurley's fantastic photographs help the reader tremendously to imagine how 'life' in the Arctic really was.
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Music: Rachel Perry: VH-1 VJ, previously Muchmusic (Canada)
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Online Book: The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire (1773-1788) by Edward Gibbon. Will take a bit of time to read. Download here.
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