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Planet Nine: 'Insensitive' Term Riles Scientists
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) famously reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet" in 2006. That decision remains highly controversial today, as made clear by the new note, which appeared in the July 29 issue of the Planetary Exploration Newsletter.
The note:
ON THE INSENSITIVE USE OF THE TERM "PLANET 9" FOR OBJECTS BEYOND PLUTO
We the undersigned wish to remind our colleagues that the IAU planet definition adopted in 2006 has been controversial and is far from universally accepted. Given this, and given the incredible accomplishment of the discovery of Pluto, the harbinger of the solar system's third zone — the Kuiper Belt — by planetary astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh in 1930, we the undersigned believe the use of the term 'Planet 9' for objects beyond Pluto is insensitive to Professor Tombaugh's legacy.
We further believe the use of this term should be discontinued in favor of culturally and taxonomically neutral terms for such planets, such as Planet X, Planet Next, or Giant Planet Five.
35 researchers signed the note, including Alan Stern, principal investigator of the New Horizons mission.
Of more interest may be this proposal concerning future exploration of Uranus and Neptune:
Related: Uranus and Neptune Are Potential Targets for 2030s Missions
Another Trans-Neptunian Object With a High Orbital Inclination Points to Planet Nine
CU Boulder Researchers Say Collective Gravity, Not Planet Nine, Explains Orbits of Detached Objects
Planet Nine Search Turns Up 10 More Moons of Jupiter
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Thursday August 02 2018, @11:38PM (6 children)
I'm willing to bet that a large percentage of the 'undersigned' are American. Pluto was the only 'planet' to have been discovered by an American, so its relegation to "Dwarf Planet" status means that THE US HAS NEVER DISCOVERED A PLANET IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. Oh noes!
This is the only reason that Pluto's relegation has ever been controversial.
I predict that future high school textbooks approved by the Texas board of education will continue to claim Pluto as a planet in a big eff you to the global scientific community.
And while I'm at it, it's spelled Aluminium!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @03:56AM
> a big eff you to the global scientific community.
Also see: imperial units of measurement, creationism...
(Score: 3, Disagree) by unauthorized on Friday August 03 2018, @10:21AM (1 child)
It is controversial because it's an unnecessary change a historic convention for no benefit at all.
Astronomers were more than capable of coming up with their specialist terms, and planet could have remained defined simply as "these specific 9 bodies". The reason for removing Pluto as a planet is just as silly as it would be to remove the gas giants as planets just because their gas-to-rock ratio is larger than some arbitrarily designated value.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @05:28PM
That's not how science works...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2018, @11:28AM (1 child)
It's aluminum. You're wrong, and in the minority. 'ium' doesn't even make sense.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday August 03 2018, @03:42PM
Depends on where he lives.
It makes as much or as little sense as 'um'. Well, at least 'alumium' didn't catch on; two alternatives to make pointless arguments about are more than enough. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by requerdanos on Friday August 03 2018, @02:45PM
I understand that this is not settled and some places insert the extraneous "i", and others don't.
If Aluminum were an outlier, I might be sympathetic.
But until the extraneous-i people start sincerely calling for an "i" to also be inserted into Lanthanum, Molybdenum, Tantalum, Platinum, and Latinum, I will thank them to keep their extra letter to themselves. That is all.