Astronomers think they have nailed down the size of the newly discovered planetary object outside the orbit of Pluto, and it looks like it is larger than the ninth planet by about 700km or abouts. This is sure to intensify the debate over whether we add it as a tenth planet. Personally, I say it's not a planet and neither is Pluto.
Despite my engineering training, where instructors mercilessly drilled the nostalgia out of me, I lean toward sentimentality on things like this. I'm the kind of guy who like it when sports teams keep around great atheletes who have passed their prime instead of letting them go in favor of younger, up and coming talent. Perhaps for this reason, I've been a strong supporter of Pluto as the ninth planet. Lately, however, I've started to change my mind. Maybe I'm just tired of the arguments, but if I were in charge, I'd ditch the planet nomenclature altogether. I'd divide everything in the solar system into 5 catagories: Inner Planets, Gas Giants, Kuiper Belt Objects, Oort Cloud Objects, and Whatever the Hell Else We Find Out There. Pluto and 2003 UB313 are Kuiper Belt Objects, and that's what we should call them. Simply calling new found KBOs planets is just going to make things more complicated once we start finding these guys in droves. Are we going to make school kids learn the names of 500 planets? What about calling anything that is spherical due to gravity a planet? Well, then we'd have to make Ceres a planet and it has done nothing so far to deserve that status. No, it's simpler to make a clean break now. I know it would be tough to say goodbye to Pluto, but it'll still be there, orbiting the sun as always. Heck, we'll even drive by in 2015.
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3 comments:
I like your idea for a naming convention. If I have to write to a Senator or something let me know, because I will totally do it.
Now I'm not a Plutophile like you, but I thought this debate came up some years ago when Pluto almost got named Trans-Neptunian Object #11 which has a certain ring to it.
Am I remembering that correctly?
This also reminds me of a guy I used to work with named Rex. Let's just say there is more than one magestic gas giant in this solar system. I remember being with Rex in the copy room. His face turned bright red as he burst out laughing for no apparent reason. He laughed so hard that I started laughing as well. Although completely out of control, he managed to communicate this single sentence while doubled over the copier- "get out while you still can..."
Ah, Methane. The silent killer.
I'm not sure why I'm screwing up your blog on Pluto with this story about a magestic gas giant, but I've already typed it, so clicking publish at this point is inevitable.
Well, I would like this blog to cover a variety of subjects like astronomy, artificail intelligence, and now, apparently, methane. Also, methane is one of the primary ingredients in Titan's atmosphere. Everything ties together.
I like trans-Neptunian object. We could start calling Earth trans-Venusian Object #1.
As I was flipping past the science channel on my way to some reality show about flava-flav, I heard mention of radio-active methane. How can that be? I'm intrigued.
Have you ever heard of this?
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