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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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 Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:27 pm Pluto loses status as a planet |
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| Quote: | Pluto loses status as a planet
Astronomers meeting in the Czech capital have voted to strip Pluto of its status as a planet.
About 2,500 experts were in Prague for the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) general assembly.
The scientists rejected a proposal that would have retained Pluto as a planet and brought three other objects into the cosmic club.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5282440.stm
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Seven of Nine
Sammie's Mammy
Joined: 16 Jun 2001
Posts: 7871
Location: North East England
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:49 pm |
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"Sammie, when I was your age, there were 9 planets. It was on my SATS paper in Year 6. There's only 8 now though."
I feel sorry for the teachers... and I hope they take it out of the exam papers for a few years as well- it really was on my Year 6 science SAT 
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Founder
Dominion Leader
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Posts: 12755
Location: Gamma Quadrant
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:25 pm |
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Those pricks. How dare they do that? I was forced to learn this science crap and now I have to relearn it?
*Speaks in explatives for the next hour*
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:36 pm |
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This is pretty dumb, we've had it as a planet for some time now, stripping it it's status as a planet is just stupid, but they propose to make other things that are moons planets 
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:41 pm |
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I agree that squabbling over semantics is pretty dumb. But you know what is dumber? Not having a good definition of a planet.
We were bound to run into this problem on the course we were following; more and more objects in the solar system were being discovered, yet we had no firm definition of what constituted a planet. It was only a matter of time before Pluto's status came into doubt and we had to act.
Now that we at least have a better idea of its place in the solar system hierarchy, we can move on and avoid further mishaps like this. The only thing that really surprises me is that Pluto wasn't exempted from this new definition under the grandfather clause. By you know those scientists.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Posts: 14823
Location: Classified
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:20 pm |
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I generally agree with everyone. For one, we need a clear definition of a planet, as Tach said. Also, this is annoying. I really don't care about having to forget one planet, but it's still annoying. It's pretty dumb, if you ask me.
-------signature-------
"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:37 pm |
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Its now a "dwarf planet"
Im glad they changed it, it isnt a planet really anyway IMO.
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Admiral Dani�l
Dutch Admiral
Joined: 06 Sep 2005
Posts: 2177
Location: Borg Cube 31572 - Join us now!
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:39 pm |
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What does it matter, Planet, Dwarfplanet, it's there floating in a orbit around the sun... more not.
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Arellia
The Quiet One
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 4425
Location: Dallas, TX
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:12 pm |
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Pluto will always be a planet to me. I don't care what they say. It's an HONORARY planet.  Poor thing.
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Lord Borg
Fleet Admiral
Joined: 27 May 2003
Posts: 11214
Location: Vulcan Capital City, Vulcan
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:14 pm |
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Indeed, for the last 21 years, I've been taught Pluto is a Planet. Now everything seems so...wrong.
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
Joined: 11 Aug 2004
Posts: 3514
Location: Ontario, Canada
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| Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:36 pm |
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| Lord Borg wrote: | | Now everything seems so...wrong. |
That is no doubt what people said when society finally started to accept that the Earth orbitted the sun, or that Ben Johnson used steroids, or that Bert is evil.
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PrankishSmart
Rear Admiral
Joined: 29 Apr 2002
Posts: 4779
Location: Hobart, Australia.
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| Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:22 am |
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I don't care what those clowns say it's still a planet. If it's not a planet I don't know what it is. It has it's own orbit around the sun, own moon, own atmosphere and gravity.
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teya
Commander
Joined: 02 Feb 2005
Posts: 423
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| Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:58 am |
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The orbit intersects Neptune's and the "moon" isn't really--Pluto and Charon revolve around each other. Both things remove it from the definition of a planet.
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CJ Cregg
Commodore
Joined: 05 Oct 2002
Posts: 1254
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| Fri Aug 25, 2006 11:09 am |
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This is the official definition of planets and dwarf planets now:
| Quote: | The IAU...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) shape [2], (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects [3] orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".
Footnotes:
[1] The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
[2] An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either "dwarf planet" and other categories.
[3] These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies. |
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Dirt
Exercise Boy
Joined: 19 May 2003
Posts: 2086
Location: a tree
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| Sat Aug 26, 2006 11:38 am |
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I'm sure they'll discover new one's out there!
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harrykims#1fan
Fan Girl Muskateer
Joined: 08 Feb 2002
Posts: 2916
Location: Leicester UK
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| Sun Aug 27, 2006 6:57 pm |
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its still a planet to me dwarf or not...
-------signature-------
Stoke me a clipper i'll be back for christmas
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Captain Dappet
Forum Revolutionist
Joined: 06 Feb 2002
Posts: 16756
Location: On my supersonic rocket ship.
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| Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:18 pm |
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Dwarfplanet, or planet...It's still a planet to me.
Just because someone is a midget, doesn't make them less human, right?
And therefore, in my mind Pluto is as much a planet as any, regardless of it's size. And the fact that...it's just supposed to be that way.
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