New planets proposal
View at BBC NEWS
Astronomers have drawn up a new way to define the word planet. This would mean adding three new planets to the Solar System, boosting the current tally of nine to 12.
The draft proposal by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) will be put to a vote at a meeting underway in the Czech capital Prague.
Did we really have no definition for a planet before this?
None that was formally agreed. For centuries, planets were simply objects that moved in the sky with respect to the background of fixed stars. The word 'planet' comes from the Greek word for 'wanderer'. But astronomers now know of hosts of large objects orbiting the Sun in the outer reaches of our Solar System. Finally, the IAU decided it was time to agree on a scientific definition of the word.
Astronomers have drawn up a new way to define the word planet. This would mean adding three new planets to the Solar System, boosting the current tally of nine to 12.The draft proposal by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) will be put to a vote at a meeting underway in the Czech capital Prague.
Did we really have no definition for a planet before this?
None that was formally agreed. For centuries, planets were simply objects that moved in the sky with respect to the background of fixed stars. The word 'planet' comes from the Greek word for 'wanderer'. But astronomers now know of hosts of large objects orbiting the Sun in the outer reaches of our Solar System. Finally, the IAU decided it was time to agree on a scientific definition of the word.
Comments
Post a Comment