Astronomy Down Under

Still about Pluto…

15 Aug at 14:01 by Wilson

One other proposal that has surfaced for the definition of a planet is to accept anything that has an intrinsic magnitude (brightness) that is equal than or larger than Pluto’s. This would keep Pluto as a planet, and would also include 2003UB₃₁₃, a.k.a. Xena, which would then (I suspect) be named in accordance with the naming rules for planets (names of Greek gods). Nothing else would make the cut, though — Sedna, Ceres etc. would not be considered planets.

The IAU conference happens over the next two weeks, and a blog with information on everything that happens (not only about Pluto, of course) is at http://astronomy2006.blogspot.com/.