Under the ‘has cleared its orbital neighborhood’ and ‘fuses hydrogen into helium’ definitions, thanks to human activities Earth technically no longer qualifies as a planet but DOES count as a star.

https://explainxkcd.com/3063/

  • Rhaedas@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    5 hours ago

    Ceres does appear to be active in some form with cryovolcanoes, based on the 2015 Dawn mission.

    I think focus ought to be more on what the qualifications are for the minor label. What does it mean to be minor?

    • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      5 hours ago

      Ceres does appear to be active in some form with cryovolcanoes, based on the 2015 Dawn mission.

      Then It’s say that it was a planet, though IANAPG.

      I think focus ought to be more on what the qualifications are for the minor label. What does it mean to be minor?

      There shouldn’t be a ‘minor’ nomenclature, it’s a contrivance. It’s a planet, or not

      Also, to reiterate, the issue being discussed is one of disqualification, and not what qualifies. Identifying a body as a planet or not should not be done based on the criteria of the crowded or not nature of the space around it.

      This comment is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0