• egrets@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The problem with recognizing Pluto is that Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Gonggong, Quaoar, Sedna, Ceres, Orcus, and perhaps also Salacia also should probably be included, and that makes for a nightmare of a mnemonic. As we all know, classification is decided on mnemonic plausibility.

      • lemmyartistforhire@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        What’s the problem with having many many planets in our solar system? You don’t have to remember them all.

        We also have many many stars in our galaxy. We don’t have to know their names for them to still be stars.

        • Klear@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          You don’t ever see people calling for Ceres to be proclaimed planet, all they care about is Pluto.

          • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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            30 days ago

            @lemmyartistforhire@lemmy.world is it better for space/societal advancement if we have a nice neat small finite number of planets in our solar system, if even politicians can remember how many there are so Earth feels a little less like a statistic?

            Kinda stretching here, IDK

          • lemmyartistforhire@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            I think Pluto having been widely regarded as a planet before and having a visible heart shape on it’s surface is an easier sell. I say they are both planets.

            What’s the problem with having many many planets in our solar system?

            You also can’t find a good problem with this, can you?

            • Klear@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              I say they are both planets.

              Cool. Can you name all planets in the Solar System, in the correct order?

                • Klear@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  Yeah. To answer your question, I see that as the problem. If you don’t, well, we’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.

                  • lemmyartistforhire@lemmy.world
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                    1 month ago

                    Do you know why you apply this logic to planets, but not stars?

                    I also can’t name all the planets outside of our solar system, but that seems to be less of an issue for you.

    • Guidy@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      It’s only a problem when you reach a certain level of astronomical knowledge. 99% of us don’t and won’t give a shit and think the people who decided Pluto’s no longer a planet are simply assholes.

      All adults know what a “grandfather clause” is and are capable of applying that to Pluto.

      Pluto is and will always be Hot Shit.

        • ivanafterall ☑️@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          Technically, you don’t know Fonzie’s temperature. And before you go and say “human temperature,” the Fonz is a fictional character, so all bets are off.

      • lemmyartistforhire@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        the people who decided Pluto’s no longer a planet

        Yes. Fuck Mike Brown. I don’t know why many people still let him dictate what to think of as a planet. The concept of “planet” is entirely man-made and doesn’t follow any god given or universal criteria. While some astronomers argue that our moon is a planet too, the current criteria would even de-classify earth as a planet, should it get knocked out of our solar system.

        I see Pluto as a Planet, and have yet to see a good argument against it.

    • nexguy@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Yet Mercury is in the same category as Jupiter…as though they are similar in any way. “Planet” is one of the few times science has decided to change something for the sole purpose of keeping the Earth important in its classification. I suppose we could not have 15 or 20 or 40 planets because that would be confusing…yet we have almost 1000 moons. It is ONLY because it is the Earth’s classification…no other reason. It doesn’t make anything easier or less confusing.

      They could have easily made mercury, pluto, and a dozen others dwarf planets, Venus Earth and Mars terrestrial planets and the others gas planets… but that would demote Earth.

      Weird left over geocentrism remaining in science like it’s the 1300s.

    • lemmyartistforhire@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      Pluto and the others are planets even without including them all in the mnemonic. The mnemonic is for the first 9 planets, just like you only remember the first few digits of pi.

          • turmacar@lemmy.world
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            29 days ago

            The moons of Jupiter and Saturn were called satellite planets from their discovery until sometime in the 20th century.

            The first several asteroids were called planets, until enough were discovered that the term ‘asteroid’ was invented and they were renamed.

            The first Kuiper belt objects were called planets, until enough were discovered that it turns out Pluto is mostly just a particularly reflective example.