Breaking news...

[juliet]

Apparently, Pluto is now officially No Longer A Planet.

Unless you're in the US, in which case you still think it is, because it was discovered by a USian.

(It is instead a trans-Neptunic body, or something like that)

This particular talk is actually rather interesting. I think he's talking at a nice comprehensible level because he's the only person here who does planets (mostly the people here are interested in galaxies/stars).

Comments

[ergotia.livejournal.com]

Well I am damn glad I no longer believe in astrology :)

Thinking about you babe xxxx

[catsgomiaow.livejournal.com]

Dude this sounds really interesting! I like nice comprehensible talk about planets and the like :)

[alexmc.livejournal.com]

> Pluto is now officially No Longer A Planet

but but

it was in the metro crossword today as "not a dog star but a dog planet".

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

It seems a little unfair that 'planet' can cover everything from Jupiter to Mercury, but not Pluto. What's the official definition?

[juliet]

I believe it's something to do with whether it originated in the dust cloud generated around the relevant star (in this case the Sun, obv) as it formed; or whether it was captured by the star's gravitational field & originated elsewhere.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

So the current thinking is that Pluto is a captured interloper, then?

[juliet]

Apparently so.

(please note: I am not an astronomer; I merely attend astronomical conferences. But that's the impression they gave, & it fits with what I read elsewhere.)

I am not an astronomer; I merely attend astronomical conferences.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

That still puts you ahead of me.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Ohh, that makes sense, because it's out of line with the others. Cunning that.

[juliet]

Well, quite :-) (mustn't it have caused a bit of a kerfuffle when they discovered Pluto in the first place, as well? And what about all the nearly-small-planet-sized asteriods in the asteroid belt, & stuff like that?).

Hopefully will see you sometime soon, sweetie - hope all is going well!

[dwagon.livejournal.com]

Pluto is also absolutely teeny-tiny compared to the other planets, and its moon (Charon) is half as big as it is. There are also larger object nearer to the Sun than Pluto that aren't counted as planets because we knew more when we first found them, so it doesn't make much sense from a logical point of view to count Pluto as a planet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_(planet) has a nice bit on the debate

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Some of the clues have been truly appalling of late, don't you think? Way too many anagrams...

[syllopsium.livejournal.com]

Holst must be celebrating in his grave.. It had to happen sooner or later, certainly.

[kitty-goth.livejournal.com]

Wtf didn't you title this entry "Jack Doesn't Name The Planets"? kthxbye

[juliet]

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