Pluto Might Be Bigger Than Eris 257
astroengine writes "Look out, the battle of the dwarf planets is about to re-ignite! During last weekend's rare occultation of a star by Eris, astronomers managed to gain one of the most accurate measurements of Eris' physical size. When three Chilean telescopes watched the star blink out of sight, astronomers were shocked to find that Eris is actually a lot smaller than originally thought. So small that it might be smaller than Pluto. On speaking with Discovery News, Eris' discoverer Mike Brown said, 'While everyone is more interested in the "mine is bigger than yours" aspect, the real science is the shockingly large density of Eris.' The mass of Eris is well known, so this means the object is more dense than Pluto. Does this mean the two mini-worlds have different compositions? Did they evolve differently? In light of this finding, is the underlying argument for Pluto being demoted from the planetary club on wobbly ground?"
Hey you guys (Score:0, Informative)
Mine is bigger than yours! Ha!
still not a planet per the IAU (Score:5, Informative)
Size does not matter. Clearing its path matters. Per the IAU Pluto has not cleared its orbital path and can not be considered a planet by the current definition.
Re:still not a planet per the IAU (Score:2, Informative)
Size does not matter. Clearing its path matters. Per the IAU Pluto has not cleared its orbital path and can not be considered a planet by the current definition.
Of course, the problem with this is - neither has Neptune.
Re:still not a planet per the IAU (Score:2, Informative)
Or Earth, for that matter.
Re:still not a planet per the IAU (Score:3, Informative)
And as long as the other planets are still there, Jupiter is not a planet.
Re:Pluto controversy (Score:5, Informative)
At least we can be certain it will pass - I don't see any people lamenting that Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta have lost their planetary status.
Status which they had, for half a century after their discovery. Similar to Pluto.
(for that matter, the same applies to the Sun - it was also classified as a planet at some point)
Re:still not a planet per the IAU (Score:2, Informative)
actually, that was the reason they wanted a clear definition of 'Planet'. Pluto not being a planet is the results of those discussion, not the cause.
There would be nothing wrong if the definition included Pluto and all those other similar objects.
Re:still not a planet per the IAU (Score:3, Informative)
A body with discriminant >= 1 is considered a planet.
Not by the IAU. As has been repeatedly mentioned before, the definition of "cleared the neighborhood" has not been defined by the IAU.
Re:still not a planet per the IAU (Score:3, Informative)
It's in a f****ng 2:3 orbital resonance with it...
Dwarf Planets are Planets Too (Score:2, Informative)