Pluto may lose its "planetary" status

The latest news is that a group of scientists is gathering to discuss the admission of 12 new objects into the solar system, smaller than Pluto. They have for the moment dubbed these "Plutons".

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Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Ceres
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Charon
Xena, Warrior Princess.

Whoever can come up with the cleverest mnemonic for that wins a trophy.

(Note: Ceres, Charon and Xena are the three the International Astronomical Union want to add now. They may add yet more by the time all is said and done.)

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yep, it's on the front page of my local paper. Three objects: Ceres, Charon, and 2003UB313 are the front runners to become planets of the solar system.

And then there are a dozen more candidates ranging from asteroids to Kuiper Belt Objects which could bump it up to a total of 24.

At least we managed to get a clearer definition of "planet" now. It has been, what, centuries before we agreed on a good definition?

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2003UB313 should definitely get a new name... "Anvil" perhaps >_>.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Popular belief is that it will be called Persephone.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

Popular belief is that it will be called Persephone.

Likely Proserpine if we're sticking to the Roman names standard.

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Originally Posted by Rock

Honest opinion? I couldn't care less with all the shit going down with our own planet.

Then why did you bother reading this thread?

What a fucking tard.

I hope Pluto does lose it's planetary status. I mean, the sooner we get rid of it, the sooner we'll be able to fix everything we've taught everyone all throughout gradeschool...

I mean, everything we taught the kids that cared about it.

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Originally Posted by Dullenplain

Likely Proserpine if we're sticking to the Roman names standard.

If they were sticking to Roman anything, we wouldn't have Xena. On top of that, why are they not using gods? They're using Persephone, Charon, and Ceres. Sure they're mythological figures, but none of them are gods. What about Juno, Minerva, Bacchus, and Vulcan? Okay, maybe naming a planet Vulcan isn't the smartest of ideas...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Arco-nym

They're using Persephone, Charon, and Ceres. Sure they're mythological figures, but none of them are gods.

What. Ceres is just as much a god as Venus is.

Besides, Ceres has been Ceres for over two hundred years; giving it a new name now would just be silly.

Quote:

What about Juno, Minerva, Bacchus, and Vulcan?

Juno already has an asteroid named for her, like Ceres, but it's not quite big enough for anyone to start considering it a planet yet. Minerva also has one, but it's named "Pallas" instead. =p

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I just wonder why the scientific community doesn't just adopt the Star Trek methodology of planetary classification. It's already pretty much complete, after all, so very little work would need to be done other than baggin' and taggin'.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

It doesn't because the Star Trek classification of planets is really arbitrary when it comes to assigning things; just pick a letter and go. Scientists like things a little more precise than that.

It would also be really lame.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I was actually reading an article that was suggesting a categorization system similar in style to the ones they use for stars. With the colors/size scheme (you know, red giant, white dwarf, etc.).

I was speaking idiomatically.

I heard a guy on NPR today say something interesting, that counting planets is really the least interesting question in the whole debate. That there is a lot of interesting shit up there that we should study no matter what way we want to classify it.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by BlueMikey

I heard a guy on NPR today say something interesting, that counting planets is really the least interesting question in the whole debate. That there is a lot of interesting shit up there that we should study no matter what way we want to classify it.

However, it is sometimes a good idea to do a bit of bookkeeping every once in a while after making all these discoveries and breakthroughs.

FELIPE NO

Wanting to downgrade Pluto but in the meantime upgrade (what is now) 3 smaller worlds into planets just doesn't make any logic to me...

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I think my favourite part in the article I read was how they were calling one planet Xena and its moon Gabrielle. I mean, someone in that room has to realise how horribly geeky it sounds. Surely there are more appealing names instead ones from horrible 90s television.

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I actually couldnt care less if they added the two further ones, UB313 and Charon to the system. But that one in between Mars and Jupiter? Ceres? That's retarded.

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Originally Posted by Lord Styphon

What. Ceres is just as much a god as Venus is.

I was thinking of someone else. My mistake.

Quote:

Besides, Ceres has been Ceres for over two hundred years; giving it a new name now would just be silly.

Juno already has an asteroid named for her, like Ceres, but it's not quite big enough for anyone to start considering it a planet yet. Minerva also has one, but it's named "Pallas" instead. =p

I was unaware of these asteroids. However, I do find it silly that the only goddess to be given a planet isn't the queen (that'd be too easy) it's the symbol of Valentine's Day and that the rest get to be asteroids.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

But wait, isn't Charon a moon?

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Yes, Charon is a moon of pluto, but now with these new proposed definition of what makes a planet, Charon would be given planetary status. Wikipedia has a nice article about it if you want to look it up.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Yamamanama

There are reasons for the names. Mercury because it moves across the sky the quickest, Venus because it's bright and gold, Mars because it's the color of blood and rusted iron, Jupiter because it's big and second-brightest (well, depending on where it is), Saturn because it's slow, Uranus because it's a sky blue, Neptune because its a deep ocean blue, and Pluto because it's cold and far away and dead.

What does a planet being bright and gold have to do with it being called Venus. Is it a correlation with beauty?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Acro-nym

What does a planet being bright and gold have to do with it being called Venus. Is it a correlation with beauty?

Considering the other names it has been given by other peoples, and how many of them relate to beauty, it's a reasonable conclusion.

Also, it's Cupid who is the symbol of Valentine's Day, not Venus. Venus was actually an important goddess; besides being one of the 12 Olympians in Greek tradition, the Aeneid makes her as the ancestor of the Roman people. Which says something of the political situation, as Venus was also the ancestor of gens Julia.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Lord Styphon

Considering the other names it has been given by other peoples, and how many of them relate to beauty, it's a reasonable conclusion.

Also, it's Cupid who is the symbol of Valentine's Day, not Venus. Venus was actually a goddess of some importance; Julius Caesar's clan claimed descent from Venus, for instance.

I know Cupid is generally considered the symbol of Valentine's Day. Maybe it's just me, I relate her to the day as well since she's the goddess of love and beauty.

Many Romans claimed to descend from Venus, not just Caesar. It was attributed to descendants of Aeneas.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Pluto is nevertheless popular, so I wouldn't want it to be disregarded either. It's also one of those mysterious planets that I have tried to research through books countless times. I'm really interested in that planet.

I wonder how many more planets are out there the size of Neptune. Warp speed ahead!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Pluto is definitely not going to lose its planetary status. It's moon Charon is even going to gain planetary status.

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