[extropy-chat] Re: SPACE: new planet?

[Christian Weisgerber]

Robert J. Bradbury <bradbury at aeiveos.com> wrote:

> Designated 2004 DW, it is 1,800 miles in diameter compared with
> Pluto which is 2,300 miles in diameter (astronomers/geologists are
> going to have to start drawing very fine lines on is it or isn't
> it a "planet").

As Eric Max Francis regularly points out on rec.arts.sf.science,
planets are those celestial bodies that have been designated as
planets by the IAU.  There is no objective definition.  And yes,
if you try to come up with one, Pluto probably won't rate.  But
Pluto has been declared a planet by fiat and this is unlikely to
change.

-- 
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber                          naddy at mips.inka.de