Experts meet to decide Pluto fate, Finally we'll know what a 'planet' is... |
Experts meet to decide Pluto fate, Finally we'll know what a 'planet' is... |
Aug 14 2006, 06:06 AM
Post
#1
|
|
Member Group: Members Posts: 295 Joined: 2-March 04 From: Central California Member No.: 45 |
-------------------- Eric P / MizarKey
|
|
|
Aug 14 2006, 01:06 PM
Post
#2
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 59 Joined: 25-December 05 From: Stevens Point, Wisconsin, USA Member No.: 619 |
Concerning Pluto and the planet definition debate:
We have the same issues in biology. For example genus, species and every other taxonomic rank are, in the last analysis, arbitrary. And, yes, there are young hotshot biologists who want to scrap these categories entirely as being unscientific - and just go with cladograms (phylogenetic trees) when referring to and defining plants. But the result of such a proposal would be chaos in terms of how professionals would need to refer to plants (would a forester bother to describe an elm as the second distal branch on the third proximal Magnoliid clade, for example?). And I don’t even want to imagine how amateurs and schoolchildren would cope under such as system. Same thing with “planets”. The concept is an arbitrary one, but ancient and culturally important and useful in maintaining interest and support for astronomy and space exploration. This is not a negligible consideration. My solution (and the one I’m hoping comes out of the IAU meeting this week): Grandfather Pluto in as a planet. And any future discoveries (such as Xena) that are at least as large as Pluto (in diameter or mass, take your pick) become planets, too. Yes, we may ultimately have 2 or 20 more planets in the solar system, but won’t that be fun and create public interest and the impetus for more exploration? |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 5th June 2024 - 03:00 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |