So How Many Planets Are There?

So How Many Planets Are There?

25 August 2006 · No Comments

It looks like we’re officially down to eight planets according to this Washington Post article :

Pluto has been demoted to a class of objects that has not yet been named. They would include celestial bodies orbiting a star that are large enough to pull themselves into a round shape but not large enough to clear their orbital paths of other objects. Pluto’s orbit is largely decided by the much larger Neptune, which is what disqualifies it from being a planet.

The article mentions that they’re looking for a name for this newly defined group of bodies, since the earlier-proposed “plutons” already has meaning in the realm of geology. Personally, I’d suggest “pseudoplanets”, or “zombies”, but somehow I suspect the international Astronomers’ guild will find a snazzier term.

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