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Planet Nine... or Giant Planet Five?

posted by martyb on Thursday August 02 2018, @06:10PM   
from the Number-Nine,-Number-Nine,-Number-Nine... dept.

takyon writes:

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:

Outer Solar System Exploration: A Compelling and Unified Dual Mission Decadal Strategy for Exploring Uranus, Neptune, Triton, Dwarf Planets, and Small KBOs and Centaurs

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

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Original Submission

• Oh just suck itOh just suck it (Score: 4, Funny) by ikanreed on Thursday August 02 2018, @06:34PM (6 children)

  by ikanreed (3164) on Thursday August 02 2018, @06:34PM (#716378) Journal

  You were Happy about Pluto being a planet? It's a Sleepy empty nothing. Well guess what, your asteroid that managed to role itself into a ball is a Dopey bag of shit. Ain't no one want your negative-200-Celsius ice ball that will give you a cold and make you Sneezy. Doc Tyson was right to dunk on you. I ain't Bashful about how shit this "planet" was. Fuck.

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• Re:Oh just suck itRe:Oh just suck it (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:07PM (3 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:07PM (#716398)

  That's a long, and rather unimpressive, way to go for a Snow White joke.

  BTW, you forgot Grumpy.

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  • Re:Oh just suck itRe:Oh just suck it (Score: 5, Funny) by ikanreed on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:35PM (2 children)

    by ikanreed (3164) on Thursday August 02 2018, @07:35PM (#716409) Journal

    I was grumpy.

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    • Re:Oh just suck itRe:Oh just suck it (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:27PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02 2018, @08:27PM (#716434)

      You still are :P

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      • Re:Oh just suck it(Score: 3, Funny) by ikanreed on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:06PM

        by ikanreed (3164) on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:06PM (#716455) Journal

        Constantly angry at everything around you is just 2018.txt

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• Re:Oh just suck itRe:Oh just suck it (Score: 4, Funny) by isostatic on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:12PM (1 child)

  by isostatic (365) on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:12PM (#716458) Journal

  You were Happy about Pluto being a planet? It's a Sleepy empty nothing.

  So's North Dakota, but it's still a state

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  • Re:Oh just suck it(Score: 5, Funny) by ikanreed on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:32PM

    by ikanreed (3164) on Thursday August 02 2018, @09:32PM (#716461) Journal

    I'm a member of the international cartographers union, we're reclassifying it to a dwarf state.

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