After Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet in 2006, scientists figured out the object found in 2005, now named Eris, is larger than Pluto.
The news source and the New Solar System
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5344892.stm
I wonder if Mike Brown is secretly a Discordian…?
Did you catch his salute to Lucy “Lawless” (Planet Xena being a non-starter)?
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds!?
I love those names: Xena, Eris and Dysnomia. After chaos and destruction comes new order and universe. 
Once a planet, always a planet, I say.
Pluto is a planet. The solar system has a manly nine planets, not a wimpy eight.
I have spoken!
[quote=“kate.lin”]After Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet in 2006, scientists figured out the object found in 2005, now named Eris, is larger than Pluto.[/quote]It’s the other way around, Eris (at the time unnamed) was discovered to be bigger than Pluto which started this whole planet discussion.
[quote=“Chris”]Once a planet, always a planet, I say.[/quote]Ceres was considered a planet for while, what does that make your manly total ?
And Vulcan.
Seriously, I think the IAU missed a “teaching moment” with this one. They should have just told everybody that the category of “planet” should be subdivided into
(a) terrestrial / rocky planets (or should we distinguish ones with molten cores? hmmm…)
(b) gas giants / jovian planets
© dwarf planets or , er…cometary planets? (they tried to call them “plutons” but geologists objected)
so that schoolkids would be expected to memorize members of the first two (in our solar system), but not the third.
I did some online search to figure out what the difference between planet and dwarf planet.
quote A "planet"1 is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and © has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2 , © has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects3 except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar-System Bodies”.
1The eight “planets” are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
2An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.
3These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.[/quote]
Source:IAU News http://www.iau.org/iau0603.414.0.html
It puts hair on its chest. Ten! Ten planets!!!
[quote=“kate.lin”]I did some online search to figure out what the difference between planet and dwarf planet.
quote A "planet"1 is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and © has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2) A “dwarf planet” is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2 , © has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects3 except satellites orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar-System Bodies”.
1The eight “planets” are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
2An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.
3These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.[/quote]
Source:IAU News http://www.iau.org/iau0603.414.0.html[/quote]
The IAU is the organization that stripped Pluto of the title “planet” by adding Definition 1c above.
Damn it! You can’t sing “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Eggs” to Swanee River. It’s gotta be “Pizza Pies” like I learned in first grade.
It seems to me that the IAU made those stipulations for a planet, based on making sure Pluto wouldn’t be counted as one of them. The voting was totally biased against Pluto.
I demand a recount!
:stinkyface:
Eris!? ERIS?! what kind of a lame brain name is that. There should be 10 planets, pluto plus an optionary cool planet beyond pluto, I suggest either “the Phantom Planet” or “Planet X”.
and Pluto is a planet, long live the counterrevolution!