Pluto's status attacked

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Despite being the farthest planet from Earth in our
solar system, Pluto has come under attack from astronomers and may be
about to lose its status in the battle.

Some 3,000 astronomers and scientists from around the world will meet
in Prague this week to decide whether Pluto, discovered in 1930,
measures up to the definition of a planet.

In defining for the first time what exactly a planet is, the
International Astronomers Union (IAU) may be forced to downgrade
Pluto's status, or add as many as 14 others.

Such a decision would send shockwaves through the scientific community,
instantly outdate textbooks, and cause educators to re-teach the basics
of our solar system.

"The pivotal question is the status of Pluto, which is clearly very
different from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune," Owen Gingerich,
professor of Astronomy and History of Science emeritus a the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told Reuters.

Debate has raged within the scientific community over the status of
Pluto for decades after the planet was found to be only one
four-hundredths of the mass of the earth.

That discussion intensified in 2003 when astronomers at the California
Institute of Technology discovered UB 313. Nicknamed Xena after the
character in the television show, UB 313 is one of more than a dozen
celestial bodies in our solar system found to be larger than Pluto....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060813/...ience_pluto_dc

"Raving Loonie" wrote in message
ups.com...
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Despite being the farthest planet from Earth in our
solar system, Pluto has come under attack from astronomers and may be
about to lose its status in the battle.

Some 3,000 astronomers and scientists from around the world will meet
in Prague this week to decide whether Pluto, discovered in 1930,
measures up to the definition of a planet.

In defining for the first time what exactly a planet is, the
International Astronomers Union (IAU) may be forced to downgrade
Pluto's status, or add as many as 14 others.

Such a decision would send shockwaves through the scientific community,
instantly outdate textbooks, and cause educators to re-teach the basics
of our solar system.

"The pivotal question is the status of Pluto, which is clearly very
different from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune," Owen Gingerich,
professor of Astronomy and History of Science emeritus a the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told Reuters.

Debate has raged within the scientific community over the status of
Pluto for decades after the planet was found to be only one
four-hundredths of the mass of the earth.

That discussion intensified in 2003 when astronomers at the California
Institute of Technology discovered UB 313. Nicknamed Xena after the
character in the television show, UB 313 is one of more than a dozen
celestial bodies in our solar system found to be larger than Pluto....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060813/...ience_pluto_dc


1. There are about 7 moons (ours included) that are bigger than Pluto.

2. 4 planets consist mostly of rock, four consist mostly of gas and only
Pluto consists mostly of ice. If Pluto were in Earth's position, the heat
from the Sun would evaporate it, like a comet.

3. Eight planets orbit more or less circular orbits in the solar equatorial
plane, whereas Pluto is very eccentric and tilted appr. 20 degrees,
indicating possible capture as it was dislodged and propelled inward from
the Kuiper Belt.

4. Several newly discovered Kuiper Belt objects are bigger than Pluto, but
of the same composition.

The simplest solution to the problem of Pluto is to designate all objects
which are round and orbiting the Sun as Planets. All objects orbiting
planets will remain Moons.
Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) will describe all other objects which do not
qualify in the spherical department. We will just add another planetary
category to the "rocky" and "gaseous" designations and that would be "icy".

Now, wasn't that simple ?? Some days we can't see the forest for all the
trees.

Hagar wrote:
"Raving Loonie" wrote in message
ups.com...
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Despite being the farthest planet from Earth in our
solar system, Pluto has come under attack from astronomers and may be
about to lose its status in the battle.

Now, wasn't that simple ?? Some days we can't see the forest for all the
trees.
If they revoke Pluto's planetary status, will they reissue the name
'Pluto' to the next qualifying planetary body? ( ... As convention
would dictate? )

Cordially,

RL

Raving Loonie wrote:
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Despite being the farthest planet from Earth in our
solar system, Pluto has come under attack from astronomers and may be
about to lose its status in the battle.

Some 3,000 astronomers and scientists from around the world will meet
in Prague this week to decide whether Pluto, discovered in 1930,
measures up to the definition of a planet.

In defining for the first time what exactly a planet is, the
International Astronomers Union (IAU) may be forced to downgrade
Pluto's status, or add as many as 14 others.

Such a decision would send shockwaves through the scientific community,
instantly outdate textbooks, and cause educators to re-teach the basics
of our solar system.

"The pivotal question is the status of Pluto, which is clearly very
different from Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune," Owen Gingerich,
professor of Astronomy and History of Science emeritus a the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics told Reuters.

Debate has raged within the scientific community over the status of
Pluto for decades after the planet was found to be only one
four-hundredths of the mass of the earth.

That discussion intensified in 2003 when astronomers at the California
Institute of Technology discovered UB 313. Nicknamed Xena after the
character in the television show, UB 313 is one of more than a dozen
celestial bodies in our solar system found to be larger than Pluto....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060813/...ience_pluto_dc

Simple decision.
1 a planets' primary orbit is around a sun and has to be close enough
to appear as a sun and not just another star and must be a sphere.
2 a moons' primary orbit is around a planet.
3 everything else is a rogue object: planetoid, meteor, comet, dust,
rocks, ice etc...
4 rogue objects can orbit suns, planets, moons or any other rogue object.




--
Linux is just a fancy name for Windows blocker.

Claude Hopper

In article .com,
"Raving Loonie" wrote:

snip

If they revoke Pluto's planetary status, will they reissue the name
'Pluto' to the next qualifying planetary body? ( ... As convention
would dictate? )

What convention would that be, then? The one according to which Ceres,
Pallas, et al. got to keep their names when they were demoted from
planetary status?

--
Odysseus

Odysseus wrote:
In article .com,
"Raving Loonie" wrote:

snip

If they revoke Pluto's planetary status, will they reissue the name
'Pluto' to the next qualifying planetary body? ( ... As convention
would dictate? )

What convention would that be, then? The one according to which Ceres,
Pallas, et al. got to keep their names when they were demoted from
planetary status?
Here is the thing ...

The elements, Uranium, Neptunium and Plutonium are named after the last
3 planets.

"Plutonium" just won't seem to be the same "stuff" anymore.

It's not just astronomy...

Chemical nomenclature is involved here as well.

Does the element "Plutonium" refer to the 9th planet or that place that
we call "Pluto"?

Cordially,

RL
--

Additionally, the following elements are named after astronomical
objects:

* cerium - Ceres
* helium - Helios, the Greek name for the Sun
* neptunium - Neptune
* palladium - Pallas
* plutonium - Pluto
* selenium - Selene, the Greek name for the Moon
* tellurium - Tellus, the Latin name for the Earth
* uranium - Uranus

And these elements are linked to astronomical (solar system) objects:

* copper - Venus
* gold - Sun
* iron - Mars
* lead - Saturn
* mercury - Mercury
* silver - Moon
* tin - Jupiter

See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemica...d_after_places

Never liked the name Pluto. I relate the name to Mickey's dog "Pluto" I
like the name for it to be "Kuiper" Best to realize if Pluto had been
found more recently,astronomers would call it a very large Kuiper belt
object and not a planet at all. To late Have to go now with "A
rose is a rose" I think a planets name gets tricky when the object is
so far from the Sun and has such an ecliptic orbit. Takes Pluto over
246 Earth years to circle the Sun Bert

G=EMC^2 Glazier wrote:
Never liked the name Pluto. I relate the name to Mickey's dog "Pluto"


Then maybe we could rename it Goofy, or Snoopy!


I
like the name for it to be "Kuiper" Best to realize if Pluto had been
found more recently,astronomers would call it a very large Kuiper belt
object and not a planet at all. To late Have to go now with "A
rose is a rose" I think a planets name gets tricky when the object is
so far from the Sun and has such an ecliptic orbit. Takes Pluto over
246 Earth years to circle the Sun Bert


The Earth is so much smaller than Jupiter and Saturn, I'm not sure it
should be called a planet either!

Double-A

In article . com,
"Raving Loonie" wrote:

Odysseus wrote:
In article .com,
"Raving Loonie" wrote:

snip

If they revoke Pluto's planetary status, will they reissue the name
'Pluto' to the next qualifying planetary body? ( ... As convention
would dictate? )

What convention would that be, then? The one according to which Ceres,
Pallas, et al. got to keep their names when they were demoted from
planetary status?
Here is the thing ...

The elements, Uranium, Neptunium and Plutonium are named after the last
3 planets.

Completely irrelevant.

"Plutonium" just won't seem to be the same "stuff" anymore.

Sure, and einsteinium's properties changed when Albert died, too.

It's not just astronomy...

Chemical nomenclature is involved here as well.

That's a ridiculous argument; I doubt any chemist gives the astronomical
origins of the names a second thought, no more than gallium is
considered to be French, or cobalt & nickel to be enchanted by evil
spirits.

--
Odysseus

Odysseus wrote:
In article . com,
"Raving Loonie" wrote:

Odysseus wrote:
In article .com,
"Raving Loonie" wrote:

snip

If they revoke Pluto's planetary status, will they reissue the name
'Pluto' to the next qualifying planetary body? ( ... As convention
would dictate? )

What convention would that be, then? The one according to which Ceres,
Pallas, et al. got to keep their names when they were demoted from
planetary status?
Here is the thing ...

The elements, Uranium, Neptunium and Plutonium are named after the last
3 planets.

Completely irrelevant.

"Plutonium" just won't seem to be the same "stuff" anymore.

Sure, and einsteinium's properties changed when Albert died, too.

It's not just astronomy...

Chemical nomenclature is involved here as well.

That's a ridiculous argument; I doubt any chemist gives the astronomical
origins of the names a second thought, no more than gallium is
considered to be French, or cobalt & nickel to be enchanted by evil
spirits.
You think not, eh?

http://www.funpic.hu/files/pics/00029/00029142.jpg