Thursday, August 24, 2006

IAU and the planet definition

The IAU has passed a resolution about what to define as a planet, and the previously maligned idea of a "dwarf planet" came back to win. The public will think dropping Pluto as a planet is somehow a bad thing despite the illogical definitions required to keep it as a planet. I leave it to Astronomy Blog to mention the details. I believe most astronomers will just ignore the issue and call objects by what they want to. Witness the fact that the term "asteroid" has been unofficially removed, replaced by "minor planet", then today replaced by "Small Solar System Body", except everyone still uses the term asteroid.

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