Wednesday, August 16, 2006
9 Planets? 8? 12? Infinity?
“It’s a mess,” said Michael E. Brown of the California Institute of Technology.According to today's NYT, Scientist are trying to better define what is a planet, and if tiny, erratic, elliptical Pluto deserves the designation any better than a multitude of moons, asteroids, and 'Kuiper Belt Objects." Wrangling is intense, and the emotional outpouring in favor of saving Pluto from 'de-comissioning' has been startling. Today, a committee of astronomers may re-define the term 'planet' to include Pluto and at least three other lesser bodies, one of which has only a number, not a name..
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