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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

Original Submission

1. "takyon" - https://soylentnews.org/~takyon/
2. "Planet Nine: 'Insensitive' Term Riles Scientists" - https://www.space.com/41339-planet-nine-insensitive-term-riles-scientists.html
3. "Planetary Exploration Newsletter" - http://planetarynews.org/
4. "Clyde W. Tombaugh" - https://www.space.com/19824-clyde-tombaugh.html
5. "Alan Stern" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Stern
6. "Outer Solar System Exploration: A Compelling and Unified Dual Mission Decadal Strategy for Exploring Uranus, Neptune, Triton, Dwarf Planets, and Small KBOs and Centaurs" - https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.08769
7. "Uranus and Neptune Are Potential Targets for 2030s Missions" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=17/06/20/0411243
8. "Another Trans-Neptunian Object With a High Orbital Inclination Points to Planet Nine" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/05/17/1227205
9. "CU Boulder Researchers Say Collective Gravity, Not Planet Nine, Explains Orbits of Detached Objects" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/06/05/125246
10. "Planet Nine Search Turns Up 10 More Moons of Jupiter" - https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=18/07/18/0034225
11. "Original Submission" - https://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=28201

printed from SoylentNews, Planet Nine... or Giant Planet Five? on 2026-06-08 21:43:55