LOS ANGELES, Aug. 24 (Xinhua)-- The new planet definition passed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is "scientifically right" and is a great step forward, an astronomer who spotted a celestial body larger than Pluto said on Thursday.
Mike Brown, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology, should have become the discoverer of a new planet but for the IAU's new definition passed in Prague, Czech Republic earlier this day. Full story>>
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Pluto demoted after definition of
planet |
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The International Astronomical Union
(IAU) on Thursday adopted a resolution on planet definition, according to
which Pluto had been stripped of the planetary status. (Xinhua
Photo)
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PRAGUE, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The resolution of a
planet definition, the first of its kind in the astronomical history, was
adopted here Thursday after days of fierce debate and effectively kicked Pluto
out of the planet group in the solar system.
According to the new rules for a planet adopted at an
International Astronomical Union meeting in Prague, Pluto doesn't make the grade
for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient
mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ...
nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit." Full story>>
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Solar system to have 3 new members
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NANJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Four-year-old Gong
Xiaoxin, who has just learned from his father that the solar system has nine
planets, may well have to revise his lessons in a couple of days.
Nearly 2,500 astronomers from 75 nations meeting in
Prague will vote on a new universal definition of a planet on Thursday. Full story>>
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Astronomers divided over new planet definition
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PRAGUE, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The attitude towards a
new definition of a planet remained sharply divided as the world's most
prominent astronomers meet to vote on the draft resolution which will increase
the tally of planets in the solar system to 12.
The definition draft, proposed last week at a meeting
of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague, preserves Pluto's
planet status and essentially classifies as planets all round objects that orbit
the Sun and do not orbit another planet. Full story>>
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Astronomical debate arises
from redefinition of planets |
BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Some 3,000
astronomers are now dabating in Prague, the Czech Republic, and expected to vote
on Friday a newly proposed definition of "planet."
For the first time, a high-level committee of the
International Astronomical Union was recommending the word "planet" be
officially defined according to both scientific and historic standards -- every
round object orbiting the sun is a planet, unless it orbits another planet. Full story>>
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Small Pluto, a planet or not?
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BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- The debate over
whether small Pluto, which was found to be only one four-hundredths of the mass
of the earth, is a planet has been continuing for decades.
Astronomers and scientists from around the world will
meet in Prague this week to decide whether to exclude Pluto from the category.
Full
story>>
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