[X] My Assistant

[Guest_Kevin Heider_*]

I had assumed that 1 Ceres was still considered an Asteroid since it orbits in the asteroid belt and has the same origin as the other asteroids.

But I noticed that on wikipedia they say: "Ceres is a 'dwarf planet', and may no longer be classified as an asteroid."

Wikipedia cites the IAU website at http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/...u0603_Q_A2.html that states:
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Q: What is Ceres?

A: Ceres is (or now we can say it was) the largest asteroid, about 1000 km across, orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres now qualifies as a dwarf planet because it is now known to be large enough (massive enough) to have self-gravity pulling itself into a nearly round shape. [Published reference for shape of Ceres: P. Thomas et al. (2005), Nature 437, 224-227. Dr. Peter Thomas is at Cornell University.] Ceres orbits within the asteroid belt and is an example of a case of an object that does not orbit in a clear path. There are many other asteroids that can cross the orbital path of Ceres.

Q: Didn’t Ceres used to be called an asteroid or minor planet?

A: Historically, Ceres was called a “planet” when it was first discovered (in 1801) orbiting in what is known as the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Because 19 th century astronomers could not resolve the size and shape of Ceres, and because numerous other bodies were discovered in the same region, Ceres lost its planetary status. For more than a century, Ceres has been referred to as an asteroid or minor planet.
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Is Ceres still classified as an asteroid since it is located in the asteroid belt? Pluto is a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) even though it is also a 'dwarf planet'.

Has Pallas become the 1st asteroid discovered? Has Vesta become the largest asteroid (at least until the IAU decides that since Vesta is a damaged, differentiated protoplanet that it was probably spherical in the past)? *IF* Ceres is truely no longer an asteroid, because it is spherical, then those two very basic questions have new answers!

How do we contact the IAU for an official statement on the classification of Ceres as an asteroid?

-- Kevin Heider

[djellison]

Don't ask the IAU - they don't have a clue what they're doing

Under their rules, Pluto is a Dwarf Planet but no one would deny it's still a Kuiper Belt object. I think it's just a venn-diagram overlap of 'Dwarf Planet' and 'Asteroid' where you'll find Ceres.

Becaus a couple of dozen people held up a particular coloured card in a conference room - suddenly Ceres stops being an asteroid? That's just moronic. It remains a member of the asteroid belt.

That is the pivotal idiocy of all this nonsesne..Pluto is still Pluto and Ceres is still Ceres. One is still a KBO and one is still an Asteroid. If you also decide to classify them as Dwarf Planets or Planets or anything....they're still a KBO and an Asteroid. Whoever decided to try and claim, via Wikipedia, that Ceres is not an asteroid is an idiot.

Doug
(PS - I would be very very wary use Wikipedia as a source of fact or reliable information)

[ElkGroveDan]

(PS - I would be very very wary use Wikipedia as a source of fact or reliable information)

I was going to make that caution when the Wikipedia issue came up in another thread yesteday. Worse, people with an ax to grind are able to simply change entires at will, and then a battle of semantics erupts.

So if anyone doesn't like the Ceres entry go ahead and change it, but be sure to back up your assertions with facts and citations. The Wiki administrators love cites. If you can provide a cite, to them it becomes truth.