Tag Archives: IAU

Blog 5 – Pluto

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

Posted in Class, Dwarf Planets | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Blog 5 – Pluto

How do we name our Solar System?

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

Posted in Moons | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How do we name our Solar System?

Naming Exoplanets: Explained

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

Posted in Class, Exoplanets, General | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Naming Exoplanets: Explained

The definition of “planet”

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

Posted in Class, Historical, Physics, Science, Universe | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The definition of “planet”