this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2026
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i just found that charming analogy, that i want to share with you :p

https://columbiachronicle.com/metro/79ce17ec-ff01-5e3d-88f4-60f2480ce7fa/

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[–] echodot@feddit.uk 5 points 6 days ago (4 children)

The whole Pluto thing is it's a strange arguement because we don't have a good definition for planet anyway. Apparently a rocky world like earth is a planet, and a gaseous world like Jupiter is a planet, but a small rocky world like Pluto isn't a planet. What?

The definition for planet seems to be, it's round and we call it a planet. The arguement against Pluto seems to be that it isn't much bigger than its own moon, which I don't understand as an arguement, because no one ever said planets had to be big, just round, and Pluto is round. Also the term "double planet exists" and the key in that sentence is that it contains the word planet.

Is the moon wasn't in orbit of the earth we would call it a planet. Mercury isn't much larger and we've always called it a planet.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 6 days ago

The entire thing comes from a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of science. It annoys the everloving shit out of me.

[–] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

The definition of planet is clear and unambiguous, people just pretend it's confusing because they don't like it.

  • It orbits a star.

  • Its gravity is greater than hydrostatic forces, causing it to be spherical.

  • It contains a majority of the mass in its orbit.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

People don't like that definition of planet because it's terrible. Which is my point about the last criteria. If in order for it to be considered a planet it has to have absorbed the majority of all material then double planets can't be planets, because they haven't.

What about a planet that also has a large mass at its L3 point, can either of those objects be a planet if the other object also exists?

If a planet gets ejected from its star system, what is it now, a very large asteroid?

This definition of planet is problematic because it's transitory and largely relies on factors that don't have material effects on the object. Spherical objects can form in interstellar space, a star is not required. We just think that planets tend to form around stars because they're easier to see in that scenario.

[–] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 2 points 6 days ago

"Planet" is about an astronomic object's relation to other objects. That's why it's called a planet - a wanderer. If you want a convenient term for spherical astronomic bodies that aren't stars, white dwarfs, black dwarfs, brown dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, or tennis balls shot from a spaceship's airlock, invent your own. It's a free language.

That said, I don't think you understand what a majority is, since it answers or contradicts half your remarks. A double planet might have one planet and a moon or two dwarf planets. A planet may have a dwarf planet in its L3 point. A planet ejected from a star system becomes a rogue planet.

Dwarf planets, rogue planets, double planets, and planetoids all aren't planets.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 6 days ago

the definition of planet is basically "the most noteworthy objects in the solar system, limited to a number that people can easily memorize"

[–] gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org 2 points 6 days ago

the definition i like best about what is a big enough object to be interesting is whether it is massive enough to hold an atmosphere. the minimum mass is roughly 10²² kg, which roughly aligns with our current classification of what is a planet.

[–] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Meanwhile, Ceres fans are just happy for the upgrade.

[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I’m almost entirely ambivalent to Pluto.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 6 days ago

"yup that sure is a rock, mhmm"

[–] python@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

This whole Pluto controversy is just nailing down how fitting Eris' naming was imo

[–] executivechimp@discuss.tchncs.de 44 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Of course Pluto's a dog, have they even watched the cartoon?

[–] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Why doesn't he talk though, like goofy?

[–] fartographer@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

Goofy is a bumbling idiot. Far too incompetent to understand that he can't talk.

[–] knuk@piefed.ca 15 points 1 week ago

For some reason my brain was stuck thinking this was about Plato and not Pluto and I couldn't figure out what it was trying to say

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (2 children)

kind of bullshit though.

If pluto was a bit closer with a smaller orbit, it would have cleared it.

Being a planet should be more about geology than where it is situated (we have even terms for planets with no orbits "rogue planet").

Having a "dwarf" qualifier would be fine, but it is a qualifier.

And it was mostly done because we kept finding more planets and didn't want to update the posters. That's bs, imagine if when we began discovering new elements we made up some bullshit rules to keep the periodic table small?

Heard some alternative definitions that are interesting, based on their geology. If it is just a pile of debris loosely attached then not a planet, big enough for geology to happen (new minerals formed by pressure and becomes round) planet. It makes moon a planet, unless you want to include parameters like "must orbit a star". but that seems arbitrary.

Let the moon be a planet AND a satellite of another planet.

I want news whenever they discover a new planet, no one cares when they name a new dwarf planet.

make solar system posters updetable like periodic tables.

[–] bob_lemon@feddit.org 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

It makes moon a planet, unless you want to include parameters like "must orbit a star". but that seems arbitrary.

I mean, that's exactly the rule they added to prevent the moon from being a planet.

[–] IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

rule of cool

which system would you rather have, one with "dwarf planet" or one with "planet Moon".

planet Moon sounds way cooler than the moon.

[–] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 3 points 6 days ago

False comparison. Moon Luna sounds way cooler than Planet Moon.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

But also like... Who fucking cares if it was?

[–] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

It makes moon a planet, unless you want to include parameters like “must orbit a star”. but that seems arbitrary.

This is the core conceptual and historical distinction between a moon and a planet. If your definition of moon doesn't include the moon, our moon, Luna, you've fucked up.

The concept of a planet is about orbits. That's what the word means; the wandering points of light in the night sky. Moons don't wander separately from their planet. Dwarf planets aren't points of light distinct from the rest of the asteroid belt they're in.

[–] gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org 0 points 6 days ago

oh i always guessed that "planet" comes from "plant", i.e. something that is flat enough that you could do agriculture on it. i.e. hydrostatic equilibrium, etc.

[–] ExtremeDullard@piefed.social 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

What if the dog is called Pluto and the planet Sparky?

[–] ashenone@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago

You hear about Pluto? That's messed up right?