Don't they have anything better to worry about than if Pluto is a planet or not?

Question

I mean it is a very long way away !

Answer 1

It gives them something to do.

Answer 2

Astrophysics is a living science that will probably become more interesting in the future. Since around 2000, and the Hubble Space telescope, our understanding of the Stars and planets has grown immensely.

Every kind of professional activity has conference wherein they discuss the newest findings and how to understand them. When I went to school Pluto was the 9th planet. But they have discovered many more objects trailing after Pluto, and call them 'Plutinos." :-)

It looks like Pluto and the Plutinos were once a large asteroid or comet that was broken up by one of the large planets. Since they were all part of the same object that broke up, it doesn't seem correct to name the first one discovered as a planet and not the others. There are too many of them to name, so probably Pluto should not be called a planet.

The modern astrophysicists have discovered so many things lately that they have gotten a lot of publicity. But they are just a group of scientists. They don't have much of a budget.

:-D I don't think you waste you time criticising a conference of dentists who are discussing the newest methods of laser dentistry? Right? Why pick on astronomers? Dentists have a lot more money to spend!

PS. In 2000 the astronomers were very nervous about all the stuff they were seeing.

For example:

"Whatever the proportion of the impact hazard, though, the discovery of 1999 XS35 does add another consideration into the pot. It also indicates that there are things we have yet to understand. [...] If 1999 XS35 were such a comet-derived beast, then one might imagine that, given the way that a typical comet (if there is such a thing) behaves, then the solitary known object 1999 XS35 might not be the only one in that orbit. It might have 10 or 100 siblings from earlier disintegration. And all of them would have orbits passing very close by the Earth. Thus the physical nature of 1999 XS35 would be a very useful thing to know. Do we?"
-- Duncan Steel, 6 September 2000

Re Tsunamis: "I believe the waves in both cases were caused by meteor impacts at sea. I also believe that safety officials play down these incidents, feeding the public any excuse but the truth. Why?
Because we have no defense or warning systems to deal with meteor impacts. Our government justifies spending billions of tax dollars on missile defense systems, and yet a missile attack is less of a threat than the debris flying around in local space. The reality is that even if an imminent impact were predicted, there is nothing we could do about it."
-- Gene Floersch, Florida Today, 5 September 2000

Answer 3

Astronomy is a very exciting subject for many people and they ponder and worry about many things concerning the universe because that is what stimulates their minds and satisfies their curiosities.

The IAU (International Astronomical Union) founded in 1919 is funded by it's members. Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. Its individual members are professional astronomers all over the World, at the Ph.D. level or beyond and active in professional research and education in astronomy.

It's important to them that words used in astronomy have sensible and meaningful scientific definitions. The classical definition for planets has become too vague to do justice to the recent discoveries of more planets on the outer edge of our solar system so they are attempting to make a new scientific definition for the word "planet" that can be sensibly used in astronomy without having too much impact on the general public's perception of that word. Some members of the IAU are arguing that Pluto should not be classified as a planet because of it's strange orbit and it's similarities to other objects in that region of the solar system.

Pluto, for me, is fascinating because it has an object (Charon) very close by of almost similar size. They rotate about a central point between them rather than one orbiting the other. In addition there are two smaller moons orbiting around both Pluto and Charon. It doesn't matter to me if the IAU decides to call them twin planets, or dwarf planets, or plutinos or just KBOs or something else.

I look forward to using the new definition of a planet whatever it maybe.

Answer 4

I think you've made a very good point. Who really cares if we call it a planet or not? That will not change its physics and chemistry.

Seems to me astronomers could make better use of their time looking for the killer comet/meteor that will some day impact Earth and wipe out life as we know it. The sooner they find it, the more likely we'll be able to do something about it.

Astronomers could be doing mankind a service, but they waste their time wrangling over Pluto's classification...argh.

Answer 5

I agree!! Who cares if its a planet or not. Its not like making this decision is going to feed the starving children of the world. Here is an idea. How about taking the money that is spent on such a STUPID thing, and create plant that can be consumed, and be drought resistant.

Answer 6

You see, rhetorical questions could only belong in a Yahoo!Questions site, not an answers site, as they can't have answers. If it wasn't a rhetorical questions, then the answer is: it's better than worrying about what colour nails to have on 29th November. That is also a very long way away.

Answer 7

Trans-Neptunian planets — smaller than the planet Neptune. This is very important as technology advances. Ceres is now considered a planet, instead of an asteroid.

I find it exciting. If it's not your thing, find something else that interests you.

Answer 8

To some people this is very important, because the solar system is important to them. They like everything well defined and exactly where they can find it when they wish. There must be a well defined difference between planet and asteroid, and I expect they are seeking to define that value at present.

Answer 9

They do, I think they are just having fun, trying to keep astro. in the news. Believe me there are enought things for them to look at/study in space to keep them busy for a long, long time.

Answer 10

They argue about this, but it's not the main priority of their work. They do more important things, but just debate on the subject.

Answer 11

Check out these links:

http://news.google.com/news?q=Planets+Beyond+Pluto&hl=en&lr=&sa=X&oi=news&ct=title

http://xfacts.com/x2.htm