Planet of the Apes

[kingrat]

So astronomers just announced a new 10th planet. Seems like I hear about a new 10th planet about once a year for the last 10 years. Are people just rediscovering the same object? Are they forgetting that we already discovered a 10th planet and this is really the 11th (and 12th and 13th etc.) planet? Are they announcing the new 10th planet and then quietly ignoring the news when planet status has been rejected? Is my middle name Andrew?

Comments

[thugg1ns.livejournal.com]

I was also wondering about all the 10th planets they keep announcing. I figured they're still trying to draw up some hype about the same one.

[wire-mother.livejournal.com]

there's controversy over what should be called a "planet". it seems like the consensus has become "if it is smaller than Pluto, it is not a planet", and there were some other things about object 2003UB313 which were just confirmed. it is, in fact, larger than Pluto, and it does, in fact, orbit the Sun.

so, unlike the earlier objects which were too small to be "planets" (and so are typically called "planetoids" or somesuch name), this one is the real deal. likely, there are others out in the Kuiper belt, possibly even one as big as Mars.

[kingrat]

I knew there was controversy over what should be called a planet.

[vulture23.livejournal.com]

Well, there seems to be a consensus (among astronomers at least) that Pluto is only considered a planet by historical accident. Nobody really wants to "demote" Pluto, but that doesn't mean that other KBOs will be considered planets. Of course, "tenth planet" has such a sensational cachet to it that the phrase is adored by sensationalists (which includes many, if not most, journalists)...

The trick, of course, is that "planet" is not really defined, so we don't know whether size should be the only factor, or whether composition or orbital characteristics are significant too. Composition is already a messy business, with at least two types of planets (rocky planets and gas giants); Pluto and other large KBOs seem to be not so rocky and more just icy, so maybe they're just supercomets. It's all rather a disorganized, ad-hoc mess. :)

[kingrat]

So why do astronomers keep announcing new 10th planets?

[vulture23.livejournal.com]

My theory is that astronomers keep announcing large outer-system bodies, and journalists keep reporting new 10th planets.

[wire-mother.livejournal.com]

right, but we are coming toward a consensus definition of "planet". not that any of this matters, as the term itself is not really used for much anymore, anyway, outside of popular astronomy. they're all pretty much circumsolar bodies, and who really cares whether the gas giants are "planets" along with the the rocky core bodies and the KBOs. better for astrophysicists and astronomers to refer to them more specifically by typological class, anyway - Jupiter doesn't fall into the same category, or have the same sort of characteristics, as Mars, after all.

[h2so4.livejournal.com]

Well what you've been hearing about are large Kuiper Belt objects. This
current one is 2003UB313. As to it being a planet that's up to the
International Astronomical Union to decide. Some or most astronomers
and astrophysicists depending on who you speak to would not classify Pluto
as a planet but as a large Kuiper Belt object also.

[faerieburst.livejournal.com]

"Are people just rediscovering the same object? Are they forgetting that we already discovered a 10th planet and this is really the 11th (and 12th and 13th etc.) planet? Are they announcing the new 10th planet and then quietly ignoring the news when planet status has been rejected? Is my middle name Andrew?"

The answer to one of these questions is yes.

The end.

~Aramada

Gold star for the helper!

[kingrat]

You are always such a big help.

Re: Gold star for the helper!

[faerieburst.livejournal.com]

::blushes:: Ahhhhh, you always say the sweetest things.

~Aramada