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Uranus seems secure.

In other Plutonian news: Pluto's newest moons get names: Nix, Hydra.

1 posted on 06/22/2006 4:11:13 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
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To: PatrickHenry

Hey, Pluto! Don't let the door hit Uranus on the way out!


80 posted on 06/22/2006 6:46:24 AM PDT by OB1kNOb (This is no time for bleeding hearts, pacifists, and appeasers to prevail in free world opinion.)
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To: PatrickHenry

Another criterion for calling a body a planet would be that it's primary should be the Sun. This would keep Titan, the Moon, and other natural satellites from being called planets.


83 posted on 06/22/2006 7:19:18 AM PDT by RonF
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To: PatrickHenry
Next one to go:
86 posted on 06/22/2006 7:30:00 AM PDT by GretchenM (What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Please meet my friend, Jesus.)
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To: PatrickHenry

Here's the thing to do: determine if the celestial body has a function in the astrological charts. If it does it is a planet, the moon, or the sun. If not, it is an asteroid, a moon (not the moon), or a comet. This would make everything beyond Saturn a non-planet unless an astrologer (Persian or Indian) of some repute has a use for it.


89 posted on 06/22/2006 8:14:30 AM PDT by RightWhale (Off touch and out of base)
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To: PatrickHenry; RadioAstronomer

I have some arbitrary standards of my own

1. is the satellite's primary a star?

if no: it ain't a planet
if yes to 1 and 2:

2. Is the body essentially spherical?

if no: it ain't a planet
if yes:

3. does the body in question have sufficient gravity to maintain the stable orbit(s) of natural satellite(s) of its own?

if no: it ain't a planet
if yest to all the above: it IS a planet


93 posted on 06/22/2006 8:33:17 AM PDT by King Prout (many complain I am overly literal... this would not be a problem if fewer people were under-precise)
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To: PatrickHenry

I'll bet the citizens of Pluto are plenty angry. I sure would be if Earth lost its' status!

I fear though that this may be the democrats new voter base, disillusioned Plutonians who consider planetary status their right and entitlement.

Shove Pelosi onto a rocketship and let her do some advanced study on this.


109 posted on 06/22/2006 9:57:18 AM PDT by Dazedcat ((Please God, make it stop))
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To: PatrickHenry
The Seventh Planet is tickled by this news....
118 posted on 06/22/2006 11:23:10 AM PDT by longshadow (FReeper #405, entering his ninth year of ignoring nitwits, nutcases, and recycled newbies)
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To: PatrickHenry

In a Constitutional Republic Pluto would be entitled to 2 Senators and one Representative. That would qualify it for red state status.


124 posted on 06/22/2006 3:53:38 PM PDT by OrioleFan (Republicans believe every day is July 4th, DemocRATs believe every day is April 15th. - Reagan)
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To: PatrickHenry

Why do all the other planet's moons get to have names, but Earth's moon does not?


127 posted on 06/22/2006 4:10:43 PM PDT by operation clinton cleanup
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To: PatrickHenry

Change the defintion to exlude smaller bodies and grandfather in Pluto.


129 posted on 06/22/2006 4:31:48 PM PDT by Raycpa
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To: PatrickHenry

I like the idea of eight major planets and any number of minor planets that would include Pluto. You can choose where the dividing line goes between "not a planet" and a "minor planet." But leave the eight fixed major planets.


147 posted on 06/23/2006 12:41:41 AM PDT by FreedomCalls (It's the "Statue of Liberty," not the "Statue of Security.")
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Pluto Might Have Rings
Space.com | 22 February 2006 | Ker Than
Posted on 02/23/2006 1:16:50 PM EST by nickcarraway
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1584209/posts

Pluto Has Three Moons, Hubble Images Show
ap on Yahoo | 10/31/05 | Alex Dominguez - ap
Posted on 10/31/2005 9:22:32 PM EST by NormsRevenge
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1513000/posts

Rethinking the Planets
Popular Science | January 2006 issue (I believe) | Michael Stroh
Posted on 12/28/2005 5:36:18 PM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1548344/posts

10 Planets? Why Not 11?
NY Times | August 23, 2005 | KENNETH CHANG
Posted on 08/23/2005 7:39:11 PM EDT by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1469281/posts

and just for fun:

2012: the piano-sized ‘New Horizons’ probe of NASA nears Pluto (will it find ET there?)
India Daily | Jan. 6, 2006
Posted on 01/10/2006 11:29:19 AM EST by presidio9
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1555353/posts


164 posted on 06/24/2006 9:21:24 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Wednesday, June 21, 2006.)
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To Pluto -- And Far Beyond "To Pluto And Far Beyond" By David H. Levy, Parade, January 15, 2006 -- We don't have a dictionary definition yet that includes all the contingencies. In the wake of the new discovery, however, the International Astronomical Union has set up a group to develop a workable definition of planet. For our part, in consultation with several experienced planetary astronomers, Parade offers this definition: A planet is a body large enough that, when it formed, it condensed under its own gravity to be shaped like a sphere. It orbits a star directly and is not a moon of another planet.

165 posted on 06/24/2006 9:49:42 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (updated my FR profile on Wednesday, June 21, 2006.)
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To: PatrickHenry

I think that we might consider designating Massachusetts as the new "ninth planet" in the case that we do lose Pluto!


170 posted on 06/24/2006 10:59:17 AM PDT by Radix (Stop domestic violence. Beat abroad.)
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To: PatrickHenry; All
Some latest News... Pluto Reclassification Could Change Number of Solar System's Planets
176 posted on 08/14/2006 10:11:24 AM PDT by Sopater (Creatio Ex Nihilo)
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To: PatrickHenry
Festival of the Seventh Planet placemarker
178 posted on 08/14/2006 10:31:31 AM PDT by longshadow (FReeper #405, entering his ninth year of ignoring nitwits, nutcases, and recycled newbies)
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