Comments on: Pluto: And then there were eight

The solar system's far-flung rock becomes a "dwarf planet." Three other contenders have lost out, too.
Images: The planetary losers

[eek10bears]

Bad Decision

I could write a long list of objections to this decision - but there is one very clear one - ask a school kid what they think about it.
As for the way the debate went - it started well, but then it became pure sophistry! Any decision was going to be arbitrary, lines have to be drawn somewhere.
A compromise to include Pluto, Xena and Ceres but not Charon was easy or can astronomers not do simple arithmetic? I can and here's a clue Barycentre or >50% Mass similar measurements different arbitrary line, there'd be no Planet Charon based on Mass, though personally if its round I'd have it - I'd even include Moons of other planets, but thats a whole other debate. As for the "'our Moon moving outwards and becoming a planet so what would we call it?' objection" (assuming the sun didn't expand first and we were still here several billion years from now to care)I suggest a good name would be "the Moon". I take it the "top" astronomers will now want to downgrade eighty or so elements from the periodic table because after all there are too many to learn, and some are more important than others, or how about the month of February, it acts very odd for a calendar month? Lastly the 'classical planets' are - and always will be - the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - find another word smartasses!
In short have as many divisions of planets as required for clarity, but astronomers are supposed to be clever people (I would have thought so but apparently not), context is a wonderful thing.

[britt_brattany]

Bad Reasoning

You could also ask a school kid where babies come from and more often than not, you wouldn't get the correct answer. Including Pluto, Xena, and Ceres would mean adding dozens more, even if Charon were left out.

"Barycentre or >50% Mass similar measurements different arbitrary line, there'd be no Planet Charon based on Mass"

Maybe you can do simple arithmetic but you can?t articulate a complete thought.

Also, it wouldn't be up to astronomers to downgrade the periodic table. The periodic table is quite straightforward. How many protons you got? 5? Ok, you are Boron. Astronomy and Astrophysics is quite a different subject. All in all, this is rather arbitrary. Just as there are terrestrial planets and gas giants, there are now dwarf planets. To get so worked up over an issue because you were taught in elementary school that Pluto was a planet is quite ridiculous.

I do agree that the word "Classical Planets" is not proper since it is the name given to all the non-stellar regular celestial-bodies that can be seen with just the naked eye. Maybe something like, "The Primary Nine" would work. Also, implying that a group of people are not clever because they won't define a word in such a way that would please people for the sake of tradition (rather for scientific reasoning) isn't very clever.

[n3td3v]

who asked the aliens?

have we told the aliens who live there? do they read cnet? the truth is out there, somewhere.

[Earl]

Who says we are not

asking the aliens? Why do you think we are spening millions upon millions each year shooting signals off into space, we are asking someone,Or(thing) to anwser the phone!

[gpskratz]

Clearing the neighborhood

If Pluto isn't a planet because crossing the orbit of Neptune means
that it hasn't cleared its "neighborhood," why is NEPTUNE still a
planet?

[Dalkorian]

very good question

I'd be interested in hearing a very good answer - unfortunately I
don't have one myself.

Maybe because it's bigger? 8-)

[Dalkorian]

possible "good answer"???

I replied to this comment yesterday claiming that I also was
interested in a good answer to this question. I may have found
one, I'll let you decide.

http://stardate.org/resources/ssguide/pluto.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
2001/02/0216_Pluto.html

Basically, it looks like the argument is that (most of) Pluto's
orbital path is within the Kuiper Belt (I hadn't realized this
before). Therefore, we're missing the real argument against
Pluto's planetary status - it's not because it crosses Neptune's
path but instead because there are other Kuiper Belt objects that
are also within Pluto's path.

Since Pluto hasn't got the "guts" to clear out it's "yard" (IE: there
are other Kuiper Belt objects in it's orbital path), it's been fired
as a planet.

Anyone have an argument against that claim? Please post links
as I have done above, I don't care how you "feel" about Pluto
(personally, I couldn't care less whether or not Pluto is a planet -
it's status won't put food on the table for me:)).

[chuckedward]

science

my science teacher taught me wrong?

[Dalkorian]

yup

Yes, your science teacher was an idiot and everything he/she
taught you is now suspect.

LOL.

Sarcasm aside, why are some people so attached to this little
iceball way out there? What difference does it really make if we
call Pluto a planet or not? Will people starve because of this? Will
people get fired and become unhirable? Will anyone DIE?

Besides, just last week they claimed there was 12 planets, not 9.
Now they have "adjusted" that to 8. Next week we might have 9
again, or maybe 10 even (go Xena go! - lol) ...

[firestarter]

why

what are we not calling pluto a planet. does the science community have nothing better to do than take away our planets

[Seaspray0]

because

You get to keep the first eight. The ninth is going towards taxes.

[kdconod]

Taken

No one has taken away any planets! In fact we've made the soalr system larger not smaller: you are forgetting that we've promoted Ceres and "Xena". Last time I checked 8+3 is more than 9.

[epiccollision]

things change

get used to it

[J_Satch]

But...

...the more things change, the more they stay the same. So you're saying Pluto is still a planet?

[J_Satch]

Wait a minute...

...I thought Pluto was a dog!

[Stan Johnson]

Science must change. It is the way it works.

Science changes as greater information is gained and understanding evolves. Science is not set in stone like so many religons. Science is a living evolving understanding of our surroundings. The Pluto downgrade is great because it reflects the evolution of our understanding. Now we have Dwarf Planets and many objects in our solar system can also be better classified.

[MrHandle]

Science?

It really doesn't have anything to do with science. It's just a bunch of geeks making an arbitrary descision. Science refers to the study of physical phenomenon; this has nothing to do with that. It's just a bunch of people's opinions. Obviously, we are constantly going to learn new things. But, arbitrary descisions are not science. For the sake of sanity and reasonableness, they should just keep Pluto as a planet and make the dwarf planet status for new stuff that meets the critera for that. The whole thing is just an ego trip for those who changed the classification. (Haha look at me, I downgraded Pluto--aherr aherr aherr)

[Dr. B]

Subject line:

Personally, I think it would be nice if they'd just left this whole
thing alone. How many years is it we've gone without a definition
for 'planet' and done just fine? 300 years? 400 years? 500 years?
Why can't they just keep doing it on a case by case basis or
something like they've done for however long?

Not that I think it matters for the general public. Those that want
to agree with the council of astronerds will change the way they
think of Pluto, those that want to think of Pluto as a planet will
continue to do so, not giving a rip if someone else says that
Pluto isn't a planet. Or doing it out of habit. I for one will
continue to refer to Pluto as a planet (and saying "whatever"
whenever someone tries to correct me).

As for Plutos moon, Charon, I don't get why that would be up for
consideration anyways.
It orbits Pluto. It's a moon.

[Pablo_Corinthian]

Regarding Pluto and Charon

Charon does not orbit around Pluto. Pluto and Charon orbit around each other.

[swokjr]

I agree

I agree with the last comment. If Charon orbits Pluto the Charon in a moon. Perfect sense.

[Sboston]

But.

That's no moon, it's a spacestation.

Ok, forgive me but it's friday afternoon before I go on vacation.
:D

[chipmonkey]

binary planet

well, charon doesn't exactly orbit around pluto, they orbit around eachother like a binary star would. thats why they were considering Charon

[PCCRomeo]

They're just regrouping them...

That's what it sounds like anyway. Why not just teach the first 8 as "classical planets" and the 3 as "dwarf planets" geez, there will continously be planets added to our solar system.

[volterwd]

People who defend

Pluto as a planet are tools. I learned it as a planet and i like it that way... but guess what they are only changing the definition for themselves- astronomers- not you snivelling whiney people, simply so that they can communicate amongst themselves and mean the same thing. Lets face it none of you can define a planet, so they came up with something and you dont like it? Who cares!!!?!?!?

You are more than welcome to still call it a planet if you like.

[TucsonAlexAZ]

get your head out of the 7th planet

What's with the personal attacks? You can call it a planet if you like but you would be wrong. The scientific definition is the only one that matters, no matter how many times that definition changes.

[g_m]

Has the Pluto delegation objected yet? Sun refused to shine?

Wow, such an important decision, it affects the motion of all
bodies in the Solar system! How does the President of Mars feel
about this important decision? HELLO! A bunch of "scientists"
who know NOTHING about Pluto (or maybe some of them went
there and can claim something with certainty?) decided to
change the definition of the word they came up with in the first
place, completely arbitrarily. They travelled to three conferences
in very nice places to do so. They still know nothing and their
decision and nomenclature are still meaningless, but DAMN,
they have cool jobs for geeks whose top love affair is that with
Xena!

[GlennAl]

Not to worry...

This "decision" was made by less than 10% of the astronomers in the world and backed by a small minority of the attending delegates who "snuck it in" (they oughta go into politics), so it's rather unlikely that it will stand up to the coming backlash simply because of the way it was done. Pluto is only "in the doghouse" temporarily.

[dmm]

Pluto had to go

It never fit the standard pneumonic "Mr. Vem J. Sun" so astronomers kept forgetting it, which was very embarassing for them. Also, 8 planets matches up better with the "8-fold way" of high-energy physics and Buddhism. Plus, when Disney named Mickey's dog Pluto, he basically signed its death warrant (as a planet). Nobody took Pluto seriously after that. However, I think that astronomy could redeem itself by naming all new minor planets after cartoon characters. To inaugurate this new tradition, Ceres should be re-named Goofy and Charon re-named Donald. And instead of classifying them as "minor planets," which is very boring, they should call them "Mickey Mouse planets." Think how easy this would make it for schoolchildren to get good grades on tests.

[Seaspray0]

Absolutely

My thoughts exactly, like you read my mind! Also, the forum should have spent more time focusing on Uranus, and afterwards clear up that it's not the size of Venus, but how it orbits that matters.

[dmm]

correction?

The game "Trivial Pursuit" claims that the Disney character Pluto was named before the planet. I checked Wikipedia and got the following: planet discovered in 1930; cartoon dog named Pluto that same year in honor of the planet.

[disco-legend-zeke]

This will cause DISNEY stock to take a hit.

At least that company that makes hair removing vibrators for women can quit holding it's breath... VENUS is still in.

[Thomas, David]

CHILL --- Dwarf Planet still means Planet --- Stupid People

It's a classifaction .... you sheep can be so dumb sometimes. ...
eom

[Mergatroid Mania]

I agree

Just because they relabeled Pluto to Dwarf Planet, doesn't mean it's no longer a planet.

There are regular humans and dwarf humans, does this mean a dwarf is not human? Of course not.

What they've done makes perfect sense.

[Earl]

It's the (who say so)

Who ever has the say so, Says it & it becomes So.