9 planets no more!!

[Tenshi28]

"The solar system has 12 planets. That is the conclusion, to be announced today, of an international panel formed to devise a scientific definition of a planet and settle an increasingly intense dispute over whether Pluto qualifies. The panel suggests retaining Pluto and immediately adding three new planets to the nine that are familiar to any schoolchild: Ceres, currently considered a large asteroid; Charon, now considered a moon of Pluto; and Xena, a recently discovered object that is larger than Pluto. (...)"

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2006/08/16/nine_no_longer_panel_declares_12_planets/

I guess most people won't give a damn about this, but I think it's pretty neat, all of my life have always known as a fact that our solar system has nine planets, and now, all of a sudden, twelve it is!

Anyway, excuse my dorkiness. :huge:

[yankeeyosh]

When I went to the plane-arium last week, I asked the observatory manager about that...she said it was still subject to debate.

[Tenshi28]

Yeah, I've been reading about it during this morning and it seems that it's still being debated, although apparently the panel of scientists I mentioned it's going to recommend the change. The question is, who the hell ends up deciding how many planets are in the solar system?

[SpaceMonkey]

Yeah, I've been reading about it during this morning and it seems that it's still being debated, although apparently the panel of scientists I mentioned it's going to recommend the change. The question is, who the hell ends up deciding how many planets are in the solar system?

No one. Or, middle school textbook publishers, I guess.

[biodork]

heh no more "my very educated mother just showed us nine planets"

[PenforPrez]

Ceres as a planet?? It's in the middle of the asteroid belt! Give me a break! :googly:

A friend of mine has a keen interest in astronomy (mine is more passive), and she's been trying to convince everybody for years that Pluto is not a planet. I think we're eventually going to have do the pluton tier of smaller plants, especially after New Horizons reaches Pluto.

Paul

[enigma]

heh no more "my very educated mother just showed us nine planets"

I learned this ias "My very educated mother just sat upon nine pizzas"....

[tina1979]

my very elderly mother just served nine pies :razz:

[mishl982]

heh no more "my very educated mother just showed us nine planets" I learned this ias "My very educated mother just sat upon nine pizzas".... my very elderly mother just served nine pies Ok how sad is it that it took me awhile to get what you all are talking about!!! :huge:

[tina1979]

Ok how sad is it that it took me awhile to get what you all are talking about!!! :huge:
that stupid saying was pounded into my head. lol..

now what order are the new 12 going to be in because I just can't see fitting in 2 Cs and an X. I mean seriously, is my very elderly mother going to have to play a xylophone or something? I'd rather be served pies

[PenforPrez]

now what order are the new 12 going to be in because I just can't see fitting in 2 Cs and an X. I mean seriously, is my very elderly mother going to have to play a xylophone or something? I'd rather be served pies

LMAO@xylophone!! :razz: Ceres would come between Mars and Jupiter, as it's in the asteroid belt. Xena is farther out than Pluto, I believe, but Xena is not the official name for that body. They were using a lot of Shakespearean characters because they ran out of Greek and Roman deities.

Paul

[tina1979]

LMAO@xylophone!! :razz: Ceres would come between Mars and Jupiter, as it's in the asteroid belt. Xena is farther out than Pluto, I believe, but Xena is not the official name for that body. They were using a lot of Shakespearean characters because they ran out of Greek and Roman deities.

Paul
so in essence we have to come up with a euphemism for
M V E M C J S N P C X....this is gonna blow! They will have to change the X...its just not gonna work :cool:

[PenforPrez]

so in essence we have to come up with a euphemism for
M V E M C J S N P C X....this is gonna blow! They will have to change the X...its just not gonna work :cool:

My very energetic mother can jog slowly near pools, churches and xylophones. :huge:

[tina1979]

My very energetic mother can jog slowly near pools, churches and xylophones. :huge:
and I thought nine planets were (was?) a mouthful :rolleyes:

[inuts]

Pluto shouldn't even be a planet. It and Charon revolve around an epicenter, and although all large bodies exert some gravitational pull, the pull between Charon and Pluto is a lot more like moon-moon than moon planet. Oh well.

[tina1979]

I have a question.....if xena is just a recently discovered "object" that is bigger than pluto, how do they know it would even qualify as a planet?

Seriously, if they can't really see it, how can they identify it. For all we know it could be something that belongs in a Star Trek movie.... So for those of you who know about this stuff more than I do please explain it to me. :)

[shimma]

heh no more "my very educated mother just showed us nine planets"

my very educated mother just served us nine pizzas!

my very educated mother just spewed up nine pizzas.

[cameralady]

Seriously, if they can't really see it, how can they identify it.

Scientists used mathematic models to theorize where Pluto would have been before they actually managed to "see" it. Maybe they did the same thing with Xena.

By the way, Pluto has moons! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nix_%28moon%29)

Wouldn't Pluto's highly unusual orbit would help to disqualify it as a planet? It is so dissimilar to any of the other 8 planets.

[inuts]

I have a question.....if xena is just a recently discovered "object" that is bigger than pluto, how do they know it would even qualify as a planet?

Seriously, if they can't really see it, how can they identify it. For all we know it could be something that belongs in a Star Trek movie.... So for those of you who know about this stuff more than I do please explain it to me. :)

Yeah, it's basically mathematics and physics. If they detect some gravitational pull somehow, they assume something must be causing it, and go ahead and try and find it. But honestly, I don't know how it all works. And I still maintain that Pluto isn't a true planet.

[PenforPrez]

Wouldn't Pluto's highly unusual orbit would help to disqualify it as a planet? It is so dissimilar to any of the other 8 planets.

Not necessarily. Mainly because there's so many other valid arguments against Pluto being a planet.

There was talk of classifying Pluto as a planetary centaur like Chiron. However, if it's true that Pluto and Charon are actually a double body orbiting the same center of gravity, that would get even more confusing. Besides that, Pluto doesn't exhibit a lot of cometary behavior, which two of the largest centaurs (Chiron and Echeclus) do.

Paul

[awhitmer83]

I always learned, "My very excellent mother just sat under new pines."

I think I like the pizza thing better.

[stonemonkey]

I thought the new definition simply required that it have enough mass that it's own gravitational field pulls it into a spherical shape.

[Tenshi28]

Latest news on the subject:

"Leading astronomers have declared that Pluto is no longer a planet in approving new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight, The Associated Press reports."

[BlueEyedFunOne]

Oh the horror!

All those tacky solar system models I made in grade school with painted foam balls and coat hangers....they always had 9 planets! Pluto was the tiny blue ball way on the outside. No more! :huge:

[tina1979]

I think that its incredibly stupid that they are dissing on pluto, but I'm not the rocket scientist :rolleyes:

I guess my very eldery mother just served nachos :huge:

[lostindc]

The scientists determine that American elementary school students would have too hard a time learning 12 planets, so to make easier (and make sure that more students pass the standardized science test) they reduced the number to 8.

Now New Horizons is going to have to be rerouted to Neptune.

[PenforPrez]

So much for my dream of becoming the first Earthling to walk on Pluto! :cry: :rolleyes: :huge:

[astronaut83]

So much for my dream of becoming the first Earthling to walk on Pluto! :cry: :rolleyes: :huge:
Hahah, when I was little, I wanted to be the first to step foot on Pluto. I even had dreams about this even throughout high school.

[paiger81]

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/pluto/-/cfpt2_/cfpt_/source_searchBox/copt_

I personally love the "Back in my day, Pluto was a planet" one.