Solar System Redefined
Aug. 16th, 2006 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sunnyskywalkerBreaking astronomical news! The International Astronomical Union is busy redefining "planet." Soon they'll be voting on whether to accept the latest scheme, and if they do, we'll have a 12-planet solar system.
Sort of. Pluto, Charon (now considered Pluto's sister planet rather than moon), and 2003 UB313 (aka Xena) are going to be "plutons," or "really little planets that we might change our minds about later and call something else."
But Ceres, formerly known as the biggest asteroid in the belt, apparently gets to be a real planet - like it was in the 19th century, before it got demoted.
I think this is cool, especially if 2003 UB313 gets to be officially called Xena. Hey, it means "foreigner," and that's very appropriate for a far-out object!
We're going to have to come up with a new mnemonic now, though, because "My Very Efficient Mother Just Served Us Nachos Promptly" won't work anymore. I don't know what we'll do if those other few dozen candidates get to be plutons too... We'll need a whole poem or something!
Sort of. Pluto, Charon (now considered Pluto's sister planet rather than moon), and 2003 UB313 (aka Xena) are going to be "plutons," or "really little planets that we might change our minds about later and call something else."
But Ceres, formerly known as the biggest asteroid in the belt, apparently gets to be a real planet - like it was in the 19th century, before it got demoted.
I think this is cool, especially if 2003 UB313 gets to be officially called Xena. Hey, it means "foreigner," and that's very appropriate for a far-out object!
We're going to have to come up with a new mnemonic now, though, because "My Very Efficient Mother Just Served Us Nachos Promptly" won't work anymore. I don't know what we'll do if those other few dozen candidates get to be plutons too... We'll need a whole poem or something!
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Date: 2006-08-17 12:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-18 12:05 am (UTC)Really?
Date: 2006-08-23 01:10 am (UTC)You know, I'd never heard that mnemonic B4.
Re: Really?
Date: 2006-08-30 02:03 am (UTC)Turns out they decided agains the plan. Pluto got demoted to "dwarf planet" instead. I was hoping we could finally get a real Planet X with Xena. But Xena and Ceres get to be dwarf planets too, so that's okay.