Planets Again

[stoutfellow]

Apparently the IAU has settled on a different definition of "planet" than the one mooted earlier, in favor of one that's pretty close to pompe's suggestion. Tenser, said the Tensor isn't happy about this.

Comments

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

I think it was the right decision. Calling Pluto a planet made sense in 1930, when we didn't really know anything about it. Now that we know more about it, pretty much ANY definition of "planet" that would include Pluto would undoubtedly result in the eventual discovery of dozens, if not hundreds, of "planets" once the Kuiper Belt (and, God forbid, the Oort Cloud) get properly "mapped".