Posted on 10/07/2006 6:44:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Following last month’s decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to strip Pluto of its planetary status, the icy rock now has a new, not-so-catchy moniker: Asteroid Number 134340... Even with the name change, the IAU doesn't expect anyone to refer to Pluto differently -- nor do they want them to. “134340” is strictly for the IAU's Minor Planet Center catalog of numbered objects with orbits. As for "Xena" -- the name planet guru Michael Brown offered for his discovery of a distant, icy rock that reignited the Pluto debate -- it, too, has a new name: Eris, from the Greek goddess of discord and strife. In other Pluto news, New Horizons, the spacecraft destined to rendezvous with the former planet in 2015, recently snapped a photo of Jupiter. Astronomers say it's only a taste of what's to come when the craft does a close fly-by in February 2007.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
Speaking of allergies ... our office has most recently experienced an unexpected and protracted move.
Consensus is this outcome is due to karmic reactions relating to Pluto's planetary fall from solar system grace. ;)
;'D
alas:
Pluto is Now Just a Number: 134340
SPACE.com | 9-11-06 | Ker Than
Posted on 09/14/2006 11:11:36 PM EDT by kingattax
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1701801/posts
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