Joho the Blog
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December 16, 2006
Discover magazine runs two letters this month that bring up two more problems with the International Astronomical Union's criteria for planets. Jerry Svoboda points out that because Neptune's orbit is crossed by Pluto, Neptune fails to "clear its zone," thus failing one criterion for planethood. Brett Bochner argues (in a reductio ad absurdum sort of way) that Jupiter is 300 times larger than the Earth and is made almost entirely of gas, and thus shouldn't be lumped with the Earth. Fortunately, I have the solution. Everyone knows the IAU's tortured criteria were designed to give us back as many of the nine planets as possible. Even so, the IAU failed. At best we got eight planets and one dwarf. So, let's skip all the weird distinctions and just declare the Solar System a constellation. After all, no one says that some other star really "deserves" to be part of Ursa Major even if it means the bear now becomes a unicorn. Nope, a constellation is what we say it is, and the same is now true for the nine planets of the Solar System. Welcome back, Pluto! [Tags: taxonomy everything_is_miscellaneous IAU planets pluto solar_system astronomy taxonomy] Posted
by D. Weinberger at December 16, 2006 12:43 PM
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Comments
How about demoting Earth; to the status of "temporary insane asylum"? It is too small to be considered a planet, compared with the gaseous giants, and too big to be an assteroid (or a hemorrhoid, for that matter). Plus, it meets the criterion for the absurd.
Posted by: Philo | December 16, 2006 03:04 PM
The IAU's decision will have to be reviewed. I don't think people will accept the decision to revoke Pluto's planetary status. Moreover, I think people were looking forward to adding Xena (and maybe even Sedna, my personal fave). Ceres is a bonus most people could live with, and Charon is obviously out, by virtue of being a moon.
Indeed, if it could have a moon, it should be a planet. That admits Pluto (Charon) and Xena (Gabrielle). It leaves Sedna undetermined (the 'missing moon'). It eliminates Ceres and (obviously) Charon. Venus and Mercury don't have moons, but qualify because they certainly could have moons, and are not themselves moons.
Posted by: Stephen Downes | December 18, 2006 08:13 PM
http://www.women1.org/
a woman, or the feminine in men and women, seeks to share deep awareness of the world
in a sacralized communion. the presence of soft candle light, wild flowers, and the
rituals of dressing for the occasion are simply metaphors acknowledged and “lived out”
in honor of the moment. in honor of life. in honor of shared awareness of the infinite
in a moment.
Posted by: Women | December 29, 2006 12:17 PM