Report: IAU group to recommend keeping Pluto as planet
Posted: Fri, Aug 11, 2006, 8:44 AM ET (1244 GMT)
A working group is expected to recommend to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that Pluto be retained as a planet, opening the door for other solar system objects to also be designated as planets. NPR reported this week that the group will likely report at an IAU meeting later this month in Prague that Pluto retain its designation as a planet, and that a new class of planets, perhaps called "dwarf planets", be created. That class of planets would include Pluto, possibly the largest asteroids, and a number of the new large objects discovered in the outer solar system. Pluto's classification as a planet has been questioned for the last several years as large icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt and beyond have been found. At least one of those objects, nicknamed Xena, is now believed to be larger that Pluto.
A working group is expected to recommend to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that Pluto be retained as a planet, opening the door for other solar system objects to also be designated as planets. NPR reported this week that the group will likely report at an IAU meeting later this month in Prague that Pluto retain its designation as a planet, and that a new class of planets, perhaps called "dwarf planets", be created. That class of planets would include Pluto, possibly the largest asteroids, and a number of the new large objects discovered in the outer solar system. Pluto's classification as a planet has been questioned for the last several years as large icy bodies in the Kuiper Belt and beyond have been found. At least one of those objects, nicknamed Xena, is now believed to be larger that Pluto.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
US and UK militaries conduct coordinated satellite maneuvers
Posted: Sun, Sep 21 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT) Blue Origin retires a New Shepard capsule after payload flight
Posted: Sun, Sep 21 8:25 AM ET (1225 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, October 13
Government criticized for rushed approval of Starlink Korea agreement
JoongAng Daily — 7:04 am ET (1104 GMT) SpaceX plans Starship test flight in Texas as early as Monday
UPI — 7:02 am ET (1102 GMT) Senior barrister: Space industry a trillion-dollar market for HKSAR
China Daily — 7:00 am ET (1100 GMT) Race for Space Law: Inside the Sino-American Cosmic Rivalry
ChinaTalk — 6:57 am ET (1057 GMT) Key ExoMars Rover part ships from Aberystwyth
Eurekalert — 6:45 am ET (1045 GMT) |
