QUOTE (ngunn @ Jun 25 2006, 10:38 AM)
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What is entertaining is seeing otherwise rational people getting worked up over the definition of a 2500 year old word
I actually think this debate is very important. As more and more objects are found around our own Sun and other stars, we really will need to decide which are and which aren't planets, for two reasons. Firstly, to allow us to map these planetary systems, give their members appropriate names, and just keep everything astronomically neat. Things are just a mess out there right now! We have planet-sized moons, moon-sized planets, moon-sized asteroids... crazy... I really don't think Pluto will be demoted, especially now it has a trio of recognised moons, and I really don't think that they'll declare Ganymede, Titan or any other large planetary satellite to be a planet either, but we need to tidy up the confusion on the solar system's edge because we're just going to find more and more KBOs etc and not tackling the definition issue is just burying our heads in the methane ice. Someone needs to be brave and just tackle this once and for all.
Secondly - and I think possibly more importantly, actually - we need to tackle this to allow us, astronomers, space enthusiasts, whatever, to communicate better with the public, who look to us for information about things astronomical. Even if we aren't particularly bothered, they need clarity in this matter, because the day will come when an Earth-like object is found "Out there" orbiting around another star, and then the media will go (briefly) crazy, declaring the discovery of "New Earth" etc... by then we will have to have a clear definition of what a planet is, what a moon is, etc, just to enable us, the "space buffs" who give public lectures, go into schools, write for the media etc, to respond accurately at the time, and to do all the corrective Outreach work which will be necessary at the time.
So what's the answer? Well, I don't think this issue can be resolved simply by looking at size, because then Pluto isn't a planet but some existing major moons are. I think there has to be some nod to history, tradition and sentimentality when it comes to Pluto because we've all grown up with it lodged in our minds and hearts as a "planet" and demoting it now would be pretty pointless in my opinion. Let's just leave Pluto alone in honour of its long history and the amazing achievement of Clyde Tombaugh who discovered it. It's thought of by everyone on the planet (except for a few grumbling astronomers... and the ever-cheerful Neil Tyson!) as "a planet", and demoting it would cause more confusion than it's worth, especially now we know it has at least 3 moons. But after that, well, that needs looking at. I'd personally go with acknowledging anything Pluto-sized or bigger as a planet, as long as it orbited the Sun independantly, had sufficient mass to make it round, and an orbit that didn't make it look more like a comet. If it has one or more moons, then all the better. I know this might lead to the solar system having a dozen or so planets in the future, but that's inevitable anyway, surely, as we look deeper and deeper into space with better and better instruments, we're bound to find previously unseen bodies out there. It's called discovery! It's a good thing!
And let's face it - the public must be thinking (in fact they ARE thinking, I know that for a fact, with all the talks I do) "hell, if they can't tell us how many planets the Sun has, how can we trust them about black holes and dark matter and multiverses, stuff like that?"
But astrologers definitely have no place in this debate. They want it all ways, want to attribute "powers" and "influence" to something as small as Pluto, yet ignore larger bodies like Ganymede and Titan. They attribute "powers" and "influence" to comets like Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake - but only when they're being reported in the general media, never before, and never help us discover them in the first place. They bang on about how eclipses and conjunctions affect us and our destinies and behaviour, yet never suggest gamma ray bursts and supernovae - events which literally affect our planet and our bodies by increasing the radiation exposure they have - are of any consequence. That's why the BBC's inclusion of an astrologer in its HORIZON program was so galling.
So I think we need to just draw a line now and live with it, just so we can move on and prepare for the deluge of discoveries that's waiting just around the corner.