[meteorite-list] THE IAU PLANET DEFINITION -- IT'S MULTIPLE CHOICE!

From: E.P. Grondine <epgrondine_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Aug 24 10:20:35 2006
Message-ID: <20060824142032.26637.qmail_at_web36904.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

Hi,

Pretty good, but -

"dwarf" planets - a repeat of the 1800's, when Ceres
and Pallas became "minor" planets - now we'll have
"dwarves"

"plutonian"s intead of "plutos"? - Looks to me like a
wire - I wonder who got "plutonian" into the Merriam
Webster dictionary?

As events proceed, we'll probably just end up with
asteroids and "near" larger Kuiper Belt Objects -
"plutos". If they're round, they'll be "plutonian".
Will they have to change the name of the Smithsonian
"Minor Planet Center" to the Smithsonian Small Solar
System Body Center? How about "the Smithsonian Center
for Small Solar System Bodies"? How about NASA coming
up with the money for the name change as part of its
responsibilities under the Brown Ammendment?

Now what ever happened to Michael Casper?

good hunting,
Ed


--- "Sterling K. Webb" <sterling_k_webb_at_sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Despite the IAU declaration that there would be
> a single
> Proposal and a single yes/no, guess what?
>
> It's a multiple-choice quiz!
>
>
> >From The IAU GA - (Dissetatio Cum Nuncio Sidereo
> III, Page 8
> http://astro.cas.cz/nuncius/nsiii_09.pdf
> Retrieved 08/24/2006 2AM CDT
> It has also just been posted at:
>
http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0602/index.html
>
>
> Final Version of Resolution on the Definition of a
> Planet
> At the second session of the General Assembly which
> will be held 14:00 Thursday August 24 in the
> Congress Hall,
> members of the IAU will vote on the resolutions
> presented here.
> There will be separate sequential votes on
> Resolution 5A and Resolution 5B.
> Similarly, there will be separate votes on
> Resolutions 6A and 6B.
>
> Resolution 5A is the principal definition for the
> IAU usage of "planet"
> and related terms. Resolution 5B adds the word
> "classical" to the
> collective name of the eight planets Mercury through
> Neptune.
> Resolution 6A creates for IAU usage a new class of
> objects,
> for which Pluto is the proto-type. Resolution 6B
> introduces
> the name "plutonian objects" for this class.
>
> The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "plutonian"
> as:
> Main Entry: plu.to.ni.an - Pronunciation:
> pl?-'tO-nE-&n -
> Function: adjective - Usage: often capitalized - :
> of, relating to,
> or characteristic of Pluto or the lower world.
>
> After having received inputs from many sides --
> especially the
> geological community -- the term "Pluton" is no
> longer being
> considered.
>
> Resolutions Committee members will be available at
> the IAU Exhibit
> (situated in the exhibition area, 2nd floor of
> Congress Hall, Foyer 2)
> from 13:00-13:30 today (Thursday). However, only
> minor corrections
> can be accommodated at this stage. A French version
> of the Resolutions
> will be available at the door.
>
> IAU Resolution: Definition of a Planet in the Solar
> System
>
> Contemporary observations are changing our
> understanding of
> planetary systems, and it is important that our
> nomenclature for
> objects reflect our current understanding. This
> applies, in particular,
> to the designation 'planets'. The word 'planet'
> originally described
> 'wanderers' that were known only as moving lights in
> the sky.
> Recent discoveries lead us to create a new
> definition, which we
> can make using currently available scientific
> information.
>
>
> Resolution 5A
>
> 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) 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.
>
>
> Resolution 5B
>
> Insert the word "classical" before the word "planet"
> in Resolution 5A, Section (1), and footnote 1. Thus
> reading:
> (1) A classical planet[1] is a celestial body . . .
> and
> [1] The eight classical planets are: Mercury, Venus,
> Earth,
> Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
>
>
> IAU Resolution: Pluto
>
> Resolution 6A
> The IAU further resolves:
> Pluto is a dwarf planet by the above definition and
> is
> recognized as the prototype of a new category of
> trans-Neptunian objects.
>
> Resolution 6B
> The following sentence is added to Resolution 6A:
> This category is to be called "plutonian objects."
> [1] An IAU process will be established to select a
> name for this category
>
>
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>


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Received on Thu 24 Aug 2006 10:20:32 AM PDT