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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: 1) by exaeta on Friday August 03 2018, @02:26PM (2 children)
Or instead of claiming Pluto isn't a planet we could acknowledge that Pluto is a planet. You know, planet is a word that has been around for quite some time, before the International Astronomical Union existed.
Claiming the authority to redefine a word like "planet" is hubris, when that definition isn't accepted by most people.
Therefore, I have a better definition of planet:
A large round object visible in the night sky using relatively unsophisticated telescopes that is not a star or moon or pidgeon.
The Government is a Bird
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Friday August 03 2018, @03:15PM
Pluto still isn't number 9 then. You definitely have to include Ceres now if you're using that definition. Probably more too, but I don't feel like digging around for ones I'm not as familiar with yet :)
"Planet" has certainly existed as a word for a long time, but it never had a really precise definition, which is why the IAU created one. But also keep in mind that we're discussing a *scientific definition* here, which doesn't have to be the same as the common usage. Consider how most people use the word "theory" in casual conversation compared to what it means for something to be a scientific theory like gravity or evolution. What most people call a "theory", scientists would refer to as a "hypothesis". Call Pluto whatever you want when you're talking to a friend, but if you're writing a scientific paper it helps to have more consistent definitions so that the words you are writing are actually meaningful to others.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday August 03 2018, @03:30PM
Define “relatively unsophisticated telescope”.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.