What would Carl Sagan say about todays developments?
Posted on 08/15/2006 8:40:00 PM PDT by Pyro7480
"Xena" is a unofficial name. If the IAU passes the resolution, it will probably get a Roman name.
I've vote for "Joxer."
The Moon and the Earth revolve around a common center of mass which, due to the Earth size and Mass, is still iside the Earth. Thusly, by definition, the Moon is in orbit around the Earth.
A planet named Bergan ... maybe...a select panel of seven astronomers and historians agreed last summer to “stretch” the definition of a planet so that Pluto could retain its inclusion. But that opened a Pandora’s Box (she was another Greek) of problems because the “new” definition could be read in such a way that a whole new group of planetary objects, some scientists estimate as many as 200, would now qualify as planets. And how would these new bodies be named? Currently, seven of the traditional planets bear the names of Roman deities, with only Uranus and Earth as the exceptions... So stay tuned to the astronomical argument. Right now, the International Astronomical Union has recognized 12 potential planets. But with potentially hundreds more lurking under the new definition, you might find your own family name ablaze in the heavens soon.
Dan Bergan
The Daily Tribune
Thursday, August 17th, 2006
He'd be saying, "who cares? I can't breathe in this coffin!"
Lol.
I like this new direction. If a body is large enough that its gravity crushes its material into a spheroid of whatever oblateness it should be a planet. There are moons, such as the moon, that also have sufficient mass and some day they will be known as planets also. The disclaimer that concerns those bodies orbiting a point inside the body of a bigger planet should be dropped, just as the zoning classification allowing a guest house on a single house parcel in reality allows two houses: two planets.
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