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
|
|
Senate seeks to add $10 billion to NASA human spaceflight programs
Posted: Sat, Jun 7 10:46 AM ET (1446 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, June 18
Firefly Aerospace Announces New Lunar Imaging Service on its Elytra Spacecraft
Firefly Aerospace — 12:32 am ET (0432 GMT) Firefly Aerospace Unveils Sat-based Lunar Imaging Service
Aviation Week — 12:32 am ET (0432 GMT) Starlink Internet set to launch in Kazakhstan in 3Q2025
Trend News — 12:31 am ET (0431 GMT) VEON’s Kyivstar Advances Direct-to-Cell Services With Starlink Integration and Regulatory Approval for Testing
GlobeNewswire — 12:30 am ET (0430 GMT) Elon Musk’s Starlink goes live in another African country
Business Insider — 12:29 am ET (0429 GMT) |
