Tag Archives: IAU

Blog 5 – Pluto

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Melanie Marszal

Many of us may remember back when we were younger and Pluto was still considered to be one of the nine planets in our Solar System. What happened? Below I will explain the reasons Pluto is no longer considered to be a 9th planet as well as some arguments for why it should be. Anti-planet: […] Continue reading →

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How do we name our Solar System?

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Avery Bradley

We all remember learning the mnemonic device in elementary school: My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles (or whatever variation you prefer). Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, the eight planets of our solar system. But what do these names actually mean? How do planets and moons and other stuff inContinue reading “How do we name our Solar System?” Continue reading →

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Naming Exoplanets: Explained

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Xave

So you’ve just discovered an exoplanet via the Astrometric method, the Doppler method, the Transit method, or some other scheme. … More Continue reading →

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The definition of “planet”

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

Ever since the IAU gathered in Prague in 2006 and published a new scientific definition of “planet”, there has been debate on how well they did, and whether they were right to “demote” Pluto from planet to the new “dwarf planet” classification. I aim here to critique the IAU’s definition of a planet. First, here… Continue reading →

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