View From the Bushes

One thing I haven't touched on since its discovery at the beginning of the week is Sedna, the Kuiper Belt object nearly the size of Pluto. While any discovery of a new object in the Solar System is interesting, the primary interest for me in this story is whether Sedna will jeopardize Pluto's planetary status. Lots of people seem very much attached to the idea that the Solar System has 9 planets, one of which is Pluto. I grew up with as much fascination about space as anyone (I could recite all 9 planets when I was 5), but somehow it doesn't bother me that Pluto may get demoted. In fact, I'm actually in favor of it.

Currently there isn't a firm defintion of what a planet is, a situation which will obviously be rectified at some point, and when it is you either end up disqualifying Pluto or letting a whole bunch of other similar objects into the club. One point that has always bothered me (but doesn't seem to faze anyone else) is the fact that Pluto is smaller than the Earth's Moon. Now admittedly with the simple rule that a "planet cannot orbit another planet" you get rid of that problem, but then you elimate any possibility of a "Double Planet" which has been a fixture in science fiction for as long as I can remember. Obviously classifying things from strictly the standpoint of size is awkward because Titan and Ganymede are both slightly bigger than Mercury.

Well I have another play tonight. This one is The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard. I haven't seen it before but I really enjoyed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead so hopefully this one will be equally enjoyable. I stll have a ton of things to do before the play so this is it for now. Tune in again, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross