NASA Scientists Have Proposed a New Definition of Planets, and Pluto Could Soon Be Back

[Eugene]

Source: Science Alert

NASA Scientists Have Proposed a New Definition of Planets, and Pluto Could Soon Be Back

Could our Moon get planetary status?

BEC CREW 20 FEB 2017

NASA scientists have published a manifesto that proposes a new definition of a planet, and if it holds, it will instantly add more than 100 new planets to our Solar System, including Pluto and our very own Moon.

The key change the team is hoping to get approved is that cosmic bodies in our Solar System no longer need to be orbiting the Sun to be considered planets - they say we should be looking at their intrinsic physical properties, not their interactions with stars.

"In keeping with both sound scientific classification and peoples' intuition, we propose a geophysically-based definition of 'planet' that importantly emphasises a body's intrinsic physical properties over its extrinsic orbital properties," the researchers explain.

The team is led by Alan Stern, principle investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto, which in 2015 achieved the first-ever fly-by of the controversial dwarf planet.

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Read more: http://www.sciencealert.com/nasa-scientists-have-proposed-a-new-definition-for-planets-and-it-could-change-everything

[Botany]

1. Good news!

"In keeping with both sound scientific classification and peoples' intuition, we propose a geophysically-based definition of 'planet' that importantly emphasises a body's intrinsic physical properties over its extrinsic orbital properties," the researchers explain.

aka

Ok Pluto is still a planet now stop sending us emails.

[flyingfysh]

2. That is not a scientific question

It is a social question. These objects don't care what we call them.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. It is a scientific question. Duh.

Dogs don't care if we call them mammals or reptiles, but classifying them as mammals clarifies our understanding of the biology.

[FiveGoodMen]

8. I'm with you

The fact that I've heard real scientists get worked up over this is disappointing.

[MFM008]

4. Pluto!!!

Yeahhh.

[tblue37]

5. I have always insisted that together the earth and the moon comprise a dual planetary system. nt

[Wounded Bear]

6. I think I first heard that about 40 years ago...

[Warpy]

7. A lot of people have always considered the Earth-Moon as a binary planet system

I agree that the classification of dwarf planet is a useful one.

[getting old in mke]

9. But the new mnemonic will be a killer.

I grew up with "My very energetic mother just served us nine pizzas" and migrated to "My very energetic mother just served us nachos".

But with a 100 more planets? I don't think mnemonics are are s'pose to be full essays...

[Lionel Mandrake]

10. Pluto by any other name would be as interesting.

What is a planet? In ancient Greek, πλανήτης meant "wanderer". To the Greeks, the planets were objects that wandered among the fixed stars. (Yes, I know the stars aren't really fixed.) There were seven planets known to the Greeks. The list included the Sun and excluded the Earth. Although our concept of planets has changed, it has always been based primarily on their motion, not on their intrinsic physical properties.

I doubt that many people will take the NASA group's suggestion seriously.