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Dremmer
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What do you think about the decision?
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Serious answer:Dremmer said:What do you think about the decision?
Dremmer said:What do you think about the decision?
wiki said:Ceres was assigned a planetary symbol, and remained listed as a planet in astronomy books and tables (along with 2 Pallas, 3 Juno and 4 Vesta) for about half a century
Dremmer said:What do you think about the decision?
Jack21222 said:Well, we either have 8 planets in our solar system, or we have something like 20-30+ planets (once the Kuiper Belt is better explored) in our solar system. I'd rather stick with just the 8 major planets, and then various dwarf planets.
I've heard the ACLU has decided to create a media blitz and take up Pluto's cause.russ_watters said:Well, Pluto wasn't provided with a lawyer, so I think they violated his due process rights.
Evo said:I've heard the ACLU has decided to create a media blitz and take up Pluto's cause.
Really? *googles it*arildno said:Charon isn't classafied as a moon any longer, it is upgraded to dwarf planet status!
Jack21222 said:It is no longer the smallest, most insignificant planet... it's now King of the Kuiper Belt!
skeptic2 said:I thought it was because Earth's moon was jealous saying "If Pluto is a planet, I want to be a Planet too."
Wikipedia.org said:Eris ... is the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth most massive body known to orbit the Sun directly. It is estimated to be approximately 2300–2400 km in diameter, and 27% more massive than Pluto or about 0.27% of the Earth's mass.
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Eris has one moon, Dysnomia. As of 2010, its distance from the Sun is 96.6 AU, roughly three times that of Pluto. With the exception of some comets the pair are currently the most distant known natural objects in the Solar System.
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[Eris' discovery], along with the prospect of other similarly sized objects being discovered in the future, motivated the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time. Under a then-new IAU definition approved on August 24, 2006, Eris is a "dwarf planet" along with Pluto, Ceres, Haumea and Makemake.
Grep said:Firstly, calling it a dwarf planet implies to most people that it's still a planet, just a dwarf one. It's not, it's not a planet which is dwarf, but a dwarf planet. In this case, dwarf is a noun not an adjective. That's confusing and could have been avoided.
Upisoft said:It will be nice to consider Earth/Moon system as a binary planet system.
It does not indeed. However, both "dwarf" and "planet" are nouns, in this case.FlexGunship said:Umm... if "dwarf" is the noun, then planet is the adjective? I guess that would mean it should be "planetary." A dwarf planetary? Doesn't roll of the tongue
That argument is a bit of a red herring. Consider thatGrep said:Firstly, calling it a dwarf planet implies to most people that it's still a planet, just a dwarf one. It's not, it's not a planet which is dwarf, but a dwarf planet. In this case, dwarf is a noun not an adjective. That's confusing and could have been avoided.
FlexGunship said:Umm... if "dwarf" is the noun, then planet is the adjective? I guess that would mean it should be "planetary." A dwarf planetary? Doesn't roll of the tongue.
Actually, it could be like "court martial" in which case the "martial" is a postpositive describing the noun. If that's the case, then the plural of "dwarf planet" is actually "dwarves planet."
- Courts Martial
- Attornies General
- Leaves of Absence
- Dwarves Planet
I just don't know, man...
Grep said:It does not indeed. However, both "dwarf" and "planet" are nouns, in this case.
D H said:Most amazing of all, red herrings are typically neither red nor herrings.
Vagn said:Wouldn't it make more sense for the whole phrase "dwarf planet" to be a noun in its own right, as is suggested by the Oxford Dictionary of English? Perhaps this would clearer if it was hyphenated.
HeLiXe said:Really? *googles it*
I have to admit I am quite fond of Sedna :) And Haumea's pretty interesting too
Mech_Engineer said:I think the discovery of Eris was a major deciding factor in the decision to define "dwarf planets." Eris is estimated 27% more massive than Pluto, so if Pluto was a planet Eris would have to be one too...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eris_(dwarf_planet )
You're probably right about that. But really, I rest my case. It's not incorrect, I think, just confusing to the general public. I don't like having to explain to people why a dwarf planet is not, in fact, a planet even though the word is right in there. It should be totally unnecessary.Vagn said:Wouldn't it make more sense for the whole phrase "dwarf planet" to be a noun in its own right, as is suggested by the Oxford Dictionary of English? Perhaps this would clearer if it was hyphenated.
Grep said:That said, I'm not really losing sleep over it.
FlexGunship said:Yeah, but now I am! There's a grammatical nightmare afoot.