“What’s perhaps most remarkable is that we can make a simple, mathematical relationship between a world’s mass and its orbital distance that can be scaled and applied to any star. If you’re above these lines, you’re a planet; if you’re below it, you’re not. Note that even the most massive dwarf planets would have to be closer to the Sun than Mercury is to reach planetary status. Note by how fantastically much each of our eight planets meets these criteria… and by how much all others miss it. And note that if you replaced the Earth with the Moon, it would barely make it as a planet.”
It was a harsh lesson in astronomy for all of us in 2006, when the International Astronomical Union released their official definition of a planet. While the innermost eight planets made the cut, Pluto did not. But given the discovery of large numbers of worlds in the Kuiper belt and beyond our Solar System, it became clear that we needed something even more than what the IAU gave us. We needed a way to look at any orbiting worlds around any star and determine whether they met a set of objective criteria for reaching planetary status. Recently, Alan Stern spoke up and introduced a geophysical definition of a planet, which would admit more than 100 members in our Solar System alone. But how does this stand up to what astronomers need to know?
As it turns out, not very well. But the IAU definition needs improving, too, and modern science is more than up to the challenge. See who does and doesn’t make the cut into true planetary status, and whether Planet Nine – if real – will make it, too!
yes its 2020, yes i still love mmd
I think the main difference between millennials and gen z is that we both went through the same awful things, all the same bullshit, but where as it left us depressed and disillusioned, it left them depressed, disillusioned and PISSED OFF.
Millenials: College is more expensive than it’s ever been but I still have to go and put myself in debt for the tiniest chance that it might make someone consider hiring me, I will never be able to afford a house, there’s a goddamn shootout every other day, the world is a nightmare and I wanna die.
Gen Z(Pointing directly at the old rich white fucks who made all this happen): College is incredibly fucking expensive but we still have to put ourselves in debt and do it, I’ll never be able to afford a house, there’s a GODDAMN SHOOTOUT EVERY OTHER DAY, the world is a nightmare and I wanna die and YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ARE GOING DOWN WITH ME.
Millenials: A lot of articles about how the environment’s a mess like to start with how we’re ‘destroying the world’ and framing it as personal responsibility. Like, ‘You! The environment’s in shambles and it’s YOUR FAULT! Yes you! You reading this! You did this! You did this by not biking enough!’ which is horseshit because we do not all have an equal environmental impact. We all have SOME impact, and you can take steps to try and minimize your own, but pretending that one single person’s impact is the same as a company’s or a billionaire who spent decades making his money off oil and fought the introduction of clean energy every step of the way is bullshit. Yes, the world is in shambles, but that’s not solely on us and we alone can’t stop it if they don’t change too. And they won’t.
Gen Z(Putting on their Ass Kicking Boots): Fortunately for us, those billionaires and company execs have names and addresses. :)
“My battery is low and it is getting dark” is the Mars Rover version of “I don’t feel so good, Mr. Stark.”
I’m emotionally compromised by both.
Lv.20 / he/they INTP/INFP Space Enthusiast --Don't follow me or interact if you have an inappropriate blog / my talking is tagged Cyberpiko speaks
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