Holy Shift in the Cosmic Axis!
Aug. 24th, 2006 01:06 pmThe International Astrological Union met today and redefined the guidelines for what is considered a "planet" and Pluto no longer makes the cut. Instead it is now considered a "dwarf planet" along with Ceres (the largest asteroid) and Xena (unofficial name of the largest Kuiper Belt Object, UB313). All the rest of the Kuiper Belt Objects, the Asteroids, and the Comets are now called "small solar system objects." It's an interesting semantic situation produced by a conflict between scientific definition and culturally constructed expectations. We all grew up with the idea of there being nine planets, but that situation has only been true since the 1930's. Someday, when we travel to new solar systems, I wonder whether these new definitions will still hold up.