tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5216738179263317509.post6388114698078545857..comments2024-01-08T00:25:24.777-08:00Comments on Philosophy of Science Portal: Alas poor Pluto, I knew him wellMercuryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13757909461674304095noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5216738179263317509.post-66345634440968513752010-04-27T18:34:34.231-07:002010-04-27T18:34:34.231-07:00I like to think that I am fair in promoting seriou...I like to think that I am fair in promoting serious and dedicated alternative perspectives. I have no place for unsupported and hip shooting positions of which I frequently receive. These I dismiss as nonsense and not germane to the spirit of this blog. I found your perspective healthy and worthy and not at all surprised at myopic scientists. They are narrow minded fools and certainly not genuine scientists. I would like to site a specific example of an individual that I knew prior to the formation of this blog who held some radical cosmological views specifically regarding the sun's core. He is a nuclear chemist and has spent over 40 years analyzing data and came to the conclusion that the sun's core is made of iron. This is preposterous say the experts but his detailed scientific analysis suggest there may be truth in his hypothesis. He is not a crackpot and I featured a topic on his theory and invited him to participate...of which he did. You are not a crackpot either...just expressing a very passionate stance regarding in a narrow perspective Pluto's status and in a broad sense a better definition of planets. Radical changes come slowly and I am sure given some time, a new classification is tenable that will make everyone content.<br /><br />You and I will still fuss with each other...and that's fine.Mercuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13757909461674304095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5216738179263317509.post-89533845973433837502010-04-26T21:40:45.412-07:002010-04-26T21:40:45.412-07:00Mercury, I would never want your demise, and I don...Mercury, I would never want your demise, and I don't think our positions are that far apart. Besides, how could I feel anything but friendship for someone who devoted an entire blog entry to my efforts for Pluto? There are a few astronomers who will remain nameless who have expressed genuine hostility to me and now refuse to even answer any of my emails or messages. Thankfully, you're not one of them, and I enjoy our back and forth discussion.<br /><br />Are you sure about the age difference? I look, act, and live much younger than I really am. That's another one of my quirks--I've got this thing about staying forever young.<br /><br />Don't worry; if those of us who want a geophysical definition of planet have our way, the number will not stay at 13. It will likely be more than 50. Triskaidekaphobiaites need not worry. :)<br /><br />Unfortunately, I am not on board New Horizons. I found out about getting one's name on the CD too late. If only there were a way of uploading more names. After all, they can upload other information like slight course changes.Laurel Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02387883186244337619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5216738179263317509.post-6171413101732747942010-04-26T18:46:43.608-07:002010-04-26T18:46:43.608-07:00By the way Laurel, are you on board "New Hori...By the way Laurel, are you on board "New Horizons"?<br /><br />As of September 12, 2005, I am #397611.Mercuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13757909461674304095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5216738179263317509.post-2051951412851542782010-04-26T15:59:53.508-07:002010-04-26T15:59:53.508-07:00i see a solution...change dwarf to pygmy....there ...i see a solution...change dwarf to pygmy....there ya goTimothyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16506919336703343072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5216738179263317509.post-56012477290575792172010-04-26T15:53:08.132-07:002010-04-26T15:53:08.132-07:00Laurel:
Your persistence will be my demise and fr...Laurel:<br /><br />Your persistence will be my demise and frankly, that would be the only way that this disagreement we have will be resolved. And I declare that it is one-sided in that I am your senior by nearly 40 years...the odds are in your favor unless my hitman fails. :)<br /><br />Interesting that you propose thirteen planets. I could live with that but remember that "change" is difficult to achieve and besides, couldn't you list at least one more..."thirteen" will have such a negative connotation. There are a lot of triskaidekaphobiaites.Mercuryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13757909461674304095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5216738179263317509.post-55169947871974347862010-04-26T10:51:38.004-07:002010-04-26T10:51:38.004-07:00Adding more dwarf planets is in no way another dem...Adding more dwarf planets is in no way another demotion for Pluto. The reason is that in spite of the controversial IAU decision, dwarf planets are planets too. Dr. Alan Stern, who coined the term, intended it to refer to a subclass of planets large enough to be in hydrostatic equilibrium (pulled into a round shape by their own gravity) but not large enough to gravitationally dominate their orbits. He never intended dwarf planets to be designated as not planets at all. And he said he anticipates there being hundreds of these small planets in our solar system.<br /><br />Only four percent of the IAU voted on this, and most are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately opposed in a formal petition by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Stern and like-minded scientists favor a broader planet definition that includes any non-self-luminous spheroidal body in orbit around a star. The spherical part is important because objects become spherical when they attain a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning they are large enough for their own gravity to pull them into a round shape. This is a characteristic of planets and not of shapeless asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects. Pluto meets this criterion and is therefore a planet. Under this definition, our solar system has 13 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris.Laurel Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02387883186244337619noreply@blogger.com