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View Full Version : Pluto: the planet named after a cartoon dog

ToucanSpam
12-20-2005, 10:28 AM
http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1810&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0



...why bother?
instigator7022
12-20-2005, 10:32 AM
http://www.astrobio.net/news/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1810&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0



...why bother?
Apparently it's a "treasure trove!"
wanton wench
12-20-2005, 10:43 AM
i'm pretty sure that the planet was named before the dog! :rolleyes:
ms.peachy
12-20-2005, 10:49 AM
...why bother?
erm... because we might learn a bunch of really cool and potentially quite important stuff, I'm guessing?
instigator7022
12-20-2005, 10:59 AM
This is cool shit, but I dig all that NASA type stuff. FYI Pluto gets it's name from the Roman god of the underworld.


So the planet pluto is like hades.
instigator7022
12-20-2005, 11:12 AM
Is hell always depicted as fiery? Because there could be a contradiction. However, I think I've seen it as Icy before and there it would make more sense to call pluto pluto and have it be a reference to hellishness.
cosmo105
12-20-2005, 11:24 AM
Percival Lowell discovered it

that's why its planetary symbol is PL

it's not even really a planet
ms.peachy
12-20-2005, 11:27 AM
it's not even really a planet
Well, that is a matter of some debate.

You might be surprised to know that technically, there is not actually universally agreed upon definition of what a planet IS. It's possible in fact to make the argument that there aren't any planets at all. Or, that every single speck of rock orbiting a sun is a planet.
Echewta
12-20-2005, 11:31 AM
Its all carbon baby. We are made of the dust of stars.
cosmo105
12-20-2005, 11:33 AM
that's very true, and definitely an interesting debate. i've always wondered why they can't just settle on what's a planet and what's not. i mean, its name comes from the latin meaning "wanderer" which applies to its apparent retrograde movement but it's sort of anything that moves around this here star, right?
ms.peachy
12-20-2005, 11:34 AM
Its all carbon baby. We are made of the dust of stars.

We are stardust
We are golden
We are billion-year-old carbon
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden


*closes eyes and has a groovy hippie moment*
cosmo105
12-20-2005, 11:35 AM
hahaha. wow, that brought back memories of a folk music - filled childhood.
ToucanSpam
12-20-2005, 11:56 AM
Isn't it merely a KBO, as the article suggests as a possibility?

Or is it a 'planet' because it orbits the sun?
ms.peachy
12-20-2005, 02:37 PM
Isn't it merely a KBO, as the article suggests as a possibility?

Or is it a 'planet' because it orbits the sun?
Well there ya go, that is the crux of the matter.
ToucanSpam
12-20-2005, 02:39 PM
...I'd like your opinon Mrs. Peachy.
ms.peachy
12-20-2005, 02:46 PM
...I'd like your opinon Mrs. Peachy.
Well, in a strictly professional capacity, I wouldn't say I'm qualified to render one. In other words, when I write a unit for students or something for any other educational resource, I wouldn't venture one, but rather encourage pupils to examine the arguments for themselves. For the kids I deal with mainly, I would probably frame the lesson in the context that it is a planet - since this is what most of us learned at school - but then pose the theory that it isn't and ask them why it might possibly be considered not to be.
abcdefz
12-20-2005, 02:52 PM
Percival Lowell discovered it

that's why its planetary symbol is PL

it's not even really a planet





...if it has seeds, it's a fruit.
ToucanSpam
12-20-2005, 02:52 PM
Well, in a strictly professional capacity, I wouldn't say I'm qualified to render one. In other words, when I write a unit for students or something for any other educational resource, I wouldn't venture one, but rather encourage pupils to examine the arguments for themselves. For the kids I deal with mainly, I would probably frame the lesson in the context that it is a planet - since this is what most of us learned at school - but then pose the theory that it isn't and ask them why it might possibly be considered not to be.

Interesting approach. It's true that most of have grown up with the idea that Pluto is in fact a 'planet' and not a part of the Kupier (spelling??) Belt. As far as I know Pluto does orbit the sun, which fits out definition of the word 'planet'. Questioning Pluto's validity as a 'planet' is a pretty interesting question that makes you think, IMO.

...another question we might ask ourselves is, does it matter what we call it?