mcgillianaire: (Bedouin in Desert)
mcgillianaire ([personal profile] mcgillianaire) wrote2006-08-25 05:40 am

Pluto relegated to the underworld

The International Astronomical Union has redefined our solar system by declaring Pluto to be a dwarf planet. As a result, there are now only 8 true planets & 3 newly-created dwarf planets.

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[identity profile] 3neonangels.livejournal.com 2006-08-25 11:27 am (UTC)(link)
aww i know... kinda made me sad. btw, you know how i have the bbc ticker? so it keeps scrolling across saying "inzaman to get hearing date from the icc" which to me means international criminal court! i know it's the international cricket something or other but i feel they need a new acronym.

[identity profile] caffeinefables.livejournal.com 2006-08-25 02:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Random note; your user picture really reminds me about the cover of The Alchemist. At least the cover on my copy. Ever read it?

[identity profile] elodie21.livejournal.com 2006-08-25 04:09 pm (UTC)(link)
It really feels strange that Pluto no longer qualifies as a planet...so many books will have to be re-written and models of our solar system changed.

[identity profile] pappubahry.livejournal.com 2006-08-26 12:12 am (UTC)(link)
About time.

Though one of the astro PhD students thinks that Pluto should have stayed a planet, since you need it to explain perturbations in Neptune's orbit.

[identity profile] thangkas.livejournal.com 2006-08-26 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
There should actually be more "dwarf planets", or they just need to unclassify that and call them planetoids/TNOs as they were before, otherwise the discussion turns to distance from the sun and size/shape. I mean, Ceres? Really? And Charon!?!? That's a satellite of Pluto! So does that mean Pluto is a binary dwarf planet?!