BREAKING NEWS - IAU Vote

There most certainly was a "definition" of a planet before now...going back to when the ancient Greeks mentioned the "wanderers" among the stars.

Um, based on that definition, everthing that wanders among the stars is a planet...

I'll correct my statement to avoid any more obfustication - 'there has not been a formal international definition by the IAU until now'

If, as you say, its unimportant what people call things, why are you getting so worked up about this?

Dave

Agreeing with you about there not being a definition before; was just putting osme context on it. I understand that thay may come as a shock

I do think that the definition was written after a decision was made rather that starting from first principles with the physics. But like I've said many times before on this subject, a rose by any other name is still a rose. Pluto, Xena, Ceres etc. are not going to suddenly change orbit and go to another star just because the IAU changed their names!

At least the conference is over and they decided something!

Ah yes, I see. I agree that there must have been some 'shoehorning' going on but I don't think there was any conspiracy. Perhaps going back to Physics 101 would have been a bridge too far and the potential result was too unpalatable when communicating to the general public...

Let's hope the IFAS AGM will follow in the same footsteps and decide something...

Dave

Let's hope the IFAS AGM will follow in the same footsteps and decide something...

Well it will produce change anyway

How can a dwarf star like our sun have anything other than dwarf planets, all of them, Jupiter+Saturn, gas dwarfs would be surely more correct
iau2007.org ?
Charles

Clyde Tombaugh must be turning in his grave.

a dwarf planet??, For the PC out there, how about a vertically challenged planet, :lol: talk about a stupid compromise.