2009
07.27

Attention Pluto Fans: Planethood to possibly be reinstated

Category: Misc., News / Tag: , ,  / Add Comment

It’s been three years since it was decided that Pluto is nolonger a planet.  And for the first time in those three years, the IAU will reconvene, and it is possible that the issue could be up for another vote.

“Next week the IAU’s general assembly will convene for the first time since Pluto was axed from the list of planets. Surprisingly, IAU chief Karel van der Hucht does not expect anyone to challenge the ruling made in Prague, but Pluto fans can take heart: resistance remains strong.

If Pluto is reinstated, it will probably be thanks to discovery rather than debate. Mark Sykes of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, believes that revelations within and beyond our solar system over the coming years will make the IAU’s controversial definition of a planet untenable (see diagram). “We are in the midst of a conceptual revolution,” he says. “We are shaking off the last vestiges of the mythological view of planets as special objects in the sky – and the idea that there has to be a small number of them because they’re special.” Via New Scientist

That’s right folks, we may be getting back up to 10 planets in the solar system.  What’s that, you don’t know about Nibiru?  Well don’t worry, it’s probably nothing to be upset over.  At least, that’s what Marduk keeps telling me, and by Marduk, I mean the neighbors pomeranian.  Now if you don’t mind, Marduk wants me to take another hit of cough syrup and take him for a walk.

  • http://laurele.livejournal.com Laurel Kornfeld

    Actually, we may end up with 15 or more planets in the solar system. There is nothing wrong with having a large number of planets; the solar system was not designed for convenience in memorizing.

    The IAU should take responsibility for the highly flawed definition adopted by only four percent of its members, most of whom are not planetary scientists, in 2006. However, the IAU should not be viewed as the sole authority on the definition of planet. Many planetary scientists do not belong to the IAU. Should they not have a say in this matter? Something does not become fact simply because a tiny group that calls itself an authority says so. It is significant that hundreds of planetary scientists led by New Horizons Principal Investgator Alan Stern immediately signed a formal petition opposing the IAU definition.

    There are other venues through which a planet definition can be determined, such as last year's Great Planet Debate at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/Xaotikdesigns Adam

      I knew about the flaws in their defination, however until I read this article, I didn't know that it was only a 4% vote. I'm not sure what the rules that they have, but one would think that for items such as defining what is and is not a planet would require a larger number of votes.