The IAU is getting a lot more press than they probably wanted, as they vote on the proposal to redefine planet status. I wrote about this earlier, but now other people are beginning to see the consequences of using the external barycenter condition for defining a satellite. Because the Moon is slowly receding from Earth, in a few billion years, it will be redefined as a planet. I had kept the barycenter condition as one of my criteria for satellite status, but I'm changing my mind. Toss it out, but keep the mass ratio at less than 0.25. Right now, Charon is classified as a moon, under the new proposal would be called a planet, but under my criterion, it would still be a moon because its mass ratio with Pluto is o.12 (the Earth-Moon mass ratio is about 0.08).
Some people don't like my atmosphere condition, but it's only there to apply a mass threshold and to satisfy conditions that make planets out of the only orbiting bodies created during a certain time and distance range from the Sun. Any large rocky bodies found beyond Xena should be called asteroids, just like the minor planets are called now.
Eh, but what do I know? The astronomers are going to figure this out, and hopefully declassify Pluto as a planet, since we know its geology and orbiting history do not match any of the other 8 planets.
Update: As quoted in Cnet's Blogma. Thank you, thank you, it's just an honor to be nominated.
More Updates: Here's a cool little story on Mike Brown. More Berkeley connections too: he finished his Ph.D. the same year I graduated. Also, a strong believer in 8 planets, he wants to call Pluto, along with his discoveries "Kuiper Belt Objects." And, Xena has a small moon named "Gabrielle." God, I love geeks.
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