Picture of the "New" Solar System

Pluto is a Pluton

WTF? Yeah, that was my reaction too. I seems that the International Astronomical Union is recommending that Pluto remain a "planet". In fact, they recommend that an official astronomical definition of the word planet be adopted:

"A planet is a celestial body that (a) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (b) is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet."

So, by this definition, Pluto remains a planet and Ceres, the newly discovered Kuiper Belt Object 2003 UB313, and Pluto's moon Charon get a promotion. Now Charon gets a pass on the "is in orbit around a star, and is neither a star nor a satellite of a planet" part because the center of gravity of the Pluto-Charon system is actually outside of Pluto. The Earth's moon is quite a bit larger than Charon (3476km diameter vs. 1212km) but the center of gravity of the Earth-Moon system is beneath the surface of the Earth, so it is considered to orbit the Earth, and thus is not a planet.

To confuse matters more, the asteroid Ceres (now a planet) will be classified as a dwarf planet and Charon/Pluto/UB313 and all the other KBOs and presumably Oort cloud objects that meet the new definition will be called "Plutons" to separate them from the 8 (not counting Ceres) classical planets.

Hot SF Chick of the Week : Week 5

Seven of Nine. Star Trek Voyager pretty much sucked until early in season 4 when Jeri Ryan joined the cast as former borg Seven of Nine, and then it sucked a little less. I always thought that the writers of the show tried to show two sides of an argument by having Seven taking the coldly rational side and Captain Janeway taking the more human, emotional side. Kind of like the original Star Trek had arguments between Spock and McCoy. The problem was, that in Voyager, Seven always made a lot more sense than Janeway, who often ended up looking like an idiot. I don't know if the writers planned it that way, or were just bad at writing. I suspect the latter.

Pluto to Remain a Planet

An international group has recommended that Pluto retain its status as a planet. This is a big victory for Pluto, but things are not settled yet, as the group that suggested keeping Pluto's planet title is just an advisory body. The article also says that several group members suggested having three classes of planets: terrestrial, gas giant, and a third that would include objects like Pluto. I think this is a reasonable compromise, although not as good as my own suggestion.

Dr. James Van Allen, RIP

James Van Allen, after whom the Van Allen Radiation Belt is named, has died. America's first orbital spacecraft, Explorer I contained a scientific experiment designed by Dr. Van Allen that discovered a region of radiation surrounding the Earth.

Yeah. This Sounds Like a Great Idea

"Physicists in Japan Plan to Create New Universe in Lab." Nope, I can't think of anything that could go wrong here. Except perhaps, creating an interdimensional rift through which aliens that can only be fought by teenage girls wearing giant robot suits come pouring through.