Friday, July 29, 2005

Planet X.... again

Ok, I don't have a lot of comments to be made here, except for, "Cool". It seems that a group of astronomers have found new planet in our solar system. It is unusual in that it quite bright, well, brighter than Pluto at any rate, which suggests it may even be bigger than Pluto. Much of this has significant uncertainty until further observations can be made. But it is certain to reignite the debate about exactly what the difference between an asteroid and a planet is. And that can be a contentious topic. One girl I had classes with in college explained about the debate over planet status, "We astronomers only have so many things to get upset about".

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