Planets again
Aug. 24th, 2006 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
...And now the AP says the IAU has gone in the less expansive direction, distinguishing between dwarf planets and real planets and demoting Pluto. I can't tell exactly from the article but it sounds as if there's a qualifier that excludes objects obviously part of a population of similar bodies in similar orbits.
(The article claims that Pluto is disqualified because its orbit "overlaps" Neptune's, but that can't be right without further detail, or it would disqualify Neptune too! I would think that Pluto is disqualified because it's one of a whole population of similar bodies in similar orbits, some of which are of comparable or even greater size.)
(The article claims that Pluto is disqualified because its orbit "overlaps" Neptune's, but that can't be right without further detail, or it would disqualify Neptune too! I would think that Pluto is disqualified because it's one of a whole population of similar bodies in similar orbits, some of which are of comparable or even greater size.)
no subject
Date: 2006-08-26 03:16 am (UTC)Also, maybe you've seen this BBC discussion of the controversy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5283956.stm) (from Slashdot)?
Also also, I dislike the decision that planets orbit the Sun. If you're going to define a planet to be those eight and nothing else, then why bother formulating a general definition, and if you create a general definition, then why not apply it to all star systems?
no subject
Date: 2006-08-26 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-26 03:25 pm (UTC)