08-24-2006, 01:49 PM
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#21
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: The Pas, MB
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Pluto, you are the weakest link. Goodbye
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08-24-2006, 01:49 PM
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#22
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#1 Goaltender
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Richmond, BC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
It's all semantics
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That's basically what it boils down to.
It really is quite sad (and embarassing) that in this golden age of astrophysics, we are still arguing about what is a planet and what isn't.
__________________
"For thousands of years humans were oppressed - as some of us still are - by the notion that the universe is a marionette whose strings are pulled by a god or gods, unseen and inscrutable." - Carl Sagan
Freedom consonant with responsibility.
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08-24-2006, 02:20 PM
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#23
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Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Crowsnest Pass
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http://www.badastronomy.com/
I’m really torn over this. Scientifically, this whole debate is a tempest in a teapot. It’s ridiculous, and serves no purpose. How is scientific knowledge furthered in any way by debating and resolving this?
On the other hand, it’s gotten a lot of interest by the public, and it’s been positive interest so far. People are talking about what it means to be a planet, and given the abysmal level of science education in the US, it’s great that folks are actually talking about astronomy. Maybe it’ll lead to some of them looking into it more, and that’s a good thing.
And now, finally, just maybe, we can actually get back to studying these objects instead of arguing about what to call them. There’s much to learn about them, real stuff, interesting stuff. The planets — however many you may think there are — are waiting. Let’s get going.
http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2...il-tyson-down/
Well, with the news from the IAU this week, Colbert forced Neil to apologize for dissing Pluto. It was pretty funny, and BABloggee BigDumbChimp (gotta love that handle) sent me a note that the video is now on YouTube.
Last edited by troutman; 08-24-2006 at 02:22 PM.
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08-24-2006, 02:23 PM
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#24
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: in your blind spot.
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From The Register (who took this from the full IAU resolution)
Quote:
The IAU therefore resolves that "planets" and other bodies in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:
(1) A "planet"1 is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2) A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2 , (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects3 except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar-System Bodies".
1The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
2An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.
3These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.
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And from another article yesterday:
Quote:
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The definition would also only apply to planets in our solar system, leaving astronomers plenty to argue about when they find other almost spherical objects orbiting other stars.
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__________________
"The problem with any ideology is that it gives the answer before you look at the evidence."
—Bill Clinton
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance--it is the illusion of knowledge."
—Daniel J. Boorstin, historian, former Librarian of Congress
"But the Senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity"
—WKRP in Cincinatti
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08-24-2006, 03:06 PM
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#25
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damn onions
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Inferno
Pluto, you are the weakest link. Goodbye
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Pluto's just been served.
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08-24-2006, 03:15 PM
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#26
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Lifetime Suspension
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Fort McMurray
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Really wish it came earlier when I was 12 when I did a science report on all 9 planets in school and got a lower mark all because of the bad report I did on Pluto.
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08-24-2006, 05:01 PM
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#27
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The new goggles also do nothing.
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
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Heh...
__________________
Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
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08-24-2006, 09:04 PM
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#29
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#1 Goaltender
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Richmond, BC
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"What do you take at school?"
"I'm taking Astronomy."
"Really? That's so cool...so can you, like, tell me my horoscope??"
It's shocking how often I get that.
__________________
"For thousands of years humans were oppressed - as some of us still are - by the notion that the universe is a marionette whose strings are pulled by a god or gods, unseen and inscrutable." - Carl Sagan
Freedom consonant with responsibility.
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08-24-2006, 09:35 PM
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#30
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The new goggles also do nothing.
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary
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REALLY?? That'd be so depressing.
__________________
Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position.
But certainty is an absurd one.
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08-25-2006, 01:29 AM
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#31
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Franchise Player
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Singapore
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Love the billboard. Take that Mali!
__________________
Shot down in Flames!
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