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Old 01-06-2011, 04:29 PM
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renormalised (Carl)
No More Infinities

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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Townsville
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If you follow the IAU's "accepted" definition of what a planet is, then none of the "planets" of our Solar System can be called a planet. Not a single one of them, including Jupiter, has cleared its orbit of miscellaneous debris. What about all the Trojan asteroids, the NEO's, the Aten objects, the short period comets, the Centaur asteroids/comets etc etc etc.

The IAU definition is marginal at best and wasn't even taken with barely a quorum of members of the Union present. It was rushed through right at the end of the last Union conference when most of the delegates had left. Most of those present there then were supporters of the new definition to begin with.
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