Fight for Pluto !, A Campaign to Reverse the Unjust Demotion |
Fight for Pluto !, A Campaign to Reverse the Unjust Demotion |
Aug 24 2006, 08:24 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 19-March 05 From: Princeton, NJ, USA Member No.: 212 |
Dear Friends,
Today I am extremely dissapointed that the Pluto Demoters have triumphed. I respect their opinion, but disagree with it. I strongly agree with Alan Stern's statement calling it "absurd" that only 424 astronomers were allowed to vote, out of some 10,000 professional astronomers around the globe. This tiny group is clearly not at all representative by mathematics alone. I believe we should formulate a plan to overturn this unjust decision and return Pluto to full planetary status, and as the first member of a third catagory of planets, Xena being number two. Thus a total of 10 Planets in our Solar System Please respond if you agree that Pluto should be restored as a planet. ken Ken Kremer Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton Program Chairman |
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Jan 26 2007, 11:06 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
I really like "planetoid" too, but Alan Stern thinks it's too diminutive.
I guess we'll have a better idea of what taxonomy to use once we can get real details on extra-solar planets, but there do seem to be some obvious break points that merit some recognition. e.g. 1) Star (big enough to fuse hydrogen) 2) Jovian Planetoid (big enough to have a hydrogen atmosphere) 3) Terrestrial Planetoid (big enough to be round) 4) Asteroid (not big enough to be round) You could divide 3 and 4 between "made out of rock" and "made out of ice". Then you could have separate categories for graviational/associational properties. e.g. 1) Independent Planetoid (dominates it's region of space). 2) Twin Planetoid (has a companion at least 1/25th its mass but not more more than 25x). 3) Bound Planetoid (forced into some sort of orbital resonance with a larger planetoid). 4) Satellite Planetoid (directly orbits a larger planetoid). One could play around with the definition of "dominates"; there might also be value in distinguishing planetoidsin circular orbits above the equator of the star (as having formed from the accretion disk) from planetoids in tilted, elliptical orbits (as having formed separately from the original nebula). Some term to differentiate airless planetoids from those with atmospheres might also make sense. The general idea, though, is that a richer taxonomy might be well worthwhile, and it's probably easier to get there if we use a term like "planetoid" rather than "planet." --Greg |
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