Comments on: Pluto is a Planet

By: Pluto is a Planet, Redux « Psychohistory

Pluto is a Planet, Redux « Psychohistory — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:05:54 +0000

[...] Pluto is a Planet [...]

By: Psychohistory New Horizons Spacecraft Swings by Jupiter. Next Stop, Pluto, Charon & the Kuiper Belt «

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 06:22:59 +0000

[...] the Kuiper Belt March 1st, 2007 — Adam Nash One of my first posts on this blog was about Pluto, namely the incredibly stupid move to re-classify it as a dwarf planet. For the first month of my [...]

By: Search vs. Comments: What Posts do People Like? « Psychohistory

Search vs. Comments: What Posts do People Like? « Psychohistory — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 05:52:21 +0000

[...] Pluto is a Planet (2) [...]

By: Margo Schulter

Margo Schulter — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 22:42:45 +0000

How about a compromise, borrowed from the biological discipline of taxonomy?
We could say that _sensu latu_, or “broadly speaking,” Plato is still a planet — along with the other “dwarf planets” of the new IAU definition.
However, only the eight “planets” of the new definition would be considered planets “strictly or narrowly speaking,” or _sensu strictu_.
In biology, the sensu strictu/sensu latu distinction accommodates situations where a given species of mushroom, for example, might come to be defined more narrowly, like “planet” under the new IAU decision; but historical usage is still influential and merits recognition.
Another term for the eight planets in the narrow sense that I like is “major planets,” maybe a bit more familiar and evocative than the proposed “classical planets” of what became the minority position among those who took part in the final vote.
From an historical perspective, I like the reinstatement of Ceres as a “dwarf planet,” and in my view also a planet broadly speaking (as it was regarded when discovered in 1801); and a definition which would recognize Pluto and Charon as making up a “double planet” system.
A diplomatic solution of this kind, letting astronomy enrich itself by borrowing a nice distinction from a sister science, would do some justice to both sides in the debate, and retain the insights gained in the process.

By: Shumona

Shumona — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:28:57 +0000

How do people expect me to just go on liek nothing has changed? And has anyone asked how Pluto is dealing with the demotion?