Well! As posted here, and here, I’ve been talking about this whole “Planet” thing. Now there’s more development.
Apparently the IAU is revising their revised revision again, and might eliminate Pluto from the planet list, dropping back to the 8 “classical” planets, and number all other bodies that would have previously been called “planet” into the “dwarf planet” category. This would include Charon and Ceres and 2003 UB313.
Further and further we go. It’s all arbitrary people!
Title says it all.
Ouch
Ouch
Ouch
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22:00 Update:
I’m usually a proponent of “green” outdoor chemicals, but not with bees/wasps/yellowjackets. I Raided their ass about an hour ago.
As several of my friends have already noted, a bunch of people in geographically disparate locations saw Snakes on a Plane this opening weekend.
My general impression/review is: Exactly what I expected. Campy, stupid, yet still righteously awesome.
I found it to be a little bit too gratutitously violent, though. Especially when the violence/gore didn’t serve any purpose beyond trying to freak out the audience.
More comments follow. Beware SPOILERS. (more…)
It’s official!
The voting membership of the IAU has accepted the draft definition of “Planet.”
This means that we’ve got three new planets, with many many more to come. Ceres, the planet formerly known as an asteroid, takes the coveted fifth planet position away from Jupiter. Charon, the planet formerly known as Pluto’s satellite, is a part of the Pluto-Charon double planet system. 2003 UB313 a.k.a. Xena, is the first of the new Plutons, other than Pluto itself. (Will “pluton” be capitalized or not? Hmmm…)
What do I think this means. Diddly! I think a lot of people will talk about the 8 “classical” planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) plus the 9th “discovered” planet of Pluto, and then lump all the rest into “those other things.”
I think Ceres is going to get the small end of the stick here. Not big enough to be considered a planet for 120 years, it’s not even going to be classified as a Pluton. Red-headed step-child syndrome if there ever was one.
Of course, whether we have 9 planets or 8 or 12 or (soon) a gazillion, it’s all very arbritraryarbitrary. See my last post.
The International Astronomical Union has posted a draft definition of “planet” that will serve to define our solar system and all others for all time!
Well, not exactly, as Phil Plait over at badastronomy.com points out quite well. The rules boil down thus:
1) It’s got to be big enough to be spherical due to it’s own gravity.
2) It’s got to orbit a star, not another planet or satellite.
Go to the Phil Plait link above for a full debrief on why this is rather arbitrary and stupid.
I have an opinion, though.
My opinion is that if they’re going to be arbitrary about the definition of a planet, why not be wholly arbitrary and not worry about the science. Here’s my take on the whole thing:
1) The Solar System has 9 Planets
2) Pluto keeps planet status just because it’s been a planet for 70 years.
That’s it. Nothing further. Entirely arbitrary. Make it so, number one…
As provided through the good offices of Milk and Cookies, the truth about our President is revealed!
I’ve been neglecting my blog—obviously—for a while. I’ve had good reasons, though!
We traveled to St. Simon’s Island for the Georgia ITE Section Summer Seminar.
I saw a great new traffic sign. There are a lot of Live Oaks on St. Simon’s that will never be trimmed back. Large trucks would have an issue with some of the limbs dangling over the road.
We also travelled to Syracuse, NY to visit friends, and have been generally busy. Busy enough to warrant ignoring my blog. After all, that is my prerogative!
But, now I’m back, and I’ll hopefully keep things a bit more steady.
Holy crap this kid has a voice.
We watched all of American Idol this year and this kid gives them all a run for their money
“God WAS my copiliot, but we crashed in the Andes and I had to eat Him”
I’ve added a new quote to my dial-a-quote over there on the right-hand sidebar. I liked it so much, I thought I would feature it here.
One of my greatest pleasures in writing hascome from the thought that perhaps my work might annoy someone of comfortably pretentious position.
Then comes the saddening realization that such people rarely read.
-John Kenneth Galbraith,
economist (1908-2006)
There is no knowing the Evil Eyebrow
Twenty Twenty-Five
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