Jokes aside, why do people see “dwarf planet” as a demotion? It’s simply is different type of planet. It’s literally still called a planet, a dwarf one.
It’s not a demotion, it’s a description. People don’t say a small intestine is not an intestine anymore or is somehow lesser than the large intestine.
Is it because people think being a dwarf is bad? Is it some religious thing where evangelicals are trying to throw shade at science for “changing its mind”? If a dwarf planet isn’t a real planet, is a dwarf human not a real person?
The problem is if you include all the dwarf planets the list more than doubles and really you should include most of the moons too, Pluto is the biggest dwarf planet and it’s like, 1/3rd the size of our moon and 1/6th the mass. It’s really really tiny.
Eris is the most massive and initially thought to be the largest too, but now it’s known to be slightly smaller than Pluto. It was discovered in 2005, it initially appearing bigger than Pluto, plus the discovery of many similar, smaller objects nearby is what prompted the discussion of reclassification.
The universe is messy and any definition is going to encounter edge cases: planet-or-star edge cases became “brown dwarfs” and now there are also “sub-brown dwarfs” for its edge cases.
Is it some religious thing where evangelicals are trying to throw shade at science for “changing its mind”
It’s not religious necessarily, but it is absolutely tied in with cultural anti-intellectualism. I’d say astronomers are catching a stray on this one as a result of all of the other things that have been turned into culture war political talking points.
It’s possibly as simple as it being part of recitation when kids learned the solar system’s planets and now it’s just not. Some folks have a real hard time wrapping their head around the idea that a ‘fact’ they learned and knew their whole life has been decided changed. Or maybe that isn’t it. I dunno. My concern for Pluto is mostly just for shitpost value. I don’t really give a rip whether it can clear its own orbit or not.
Jokes aside, why do people see “dwarf planet” as a demotion? It’s simply is different type of planet. It’s literally still called a planet, a dwarf one.
It’s also not like it’s the first time. The dwarf planet Ceres was once considered a planet until it was reclassified in light of so many other objects sharing its orbit.
But also it clearly is a ‘demotion’, from a real planet to a “planet”-with-qualifier. The planets have have a higher cultural status and recognition than the other random floating rocks in our solar system.
The IAU redefinition, which only 441 out of nearly 10,000 members were present for the vote for it, and did not have the six months of advance notice required by their own bylaws, and is not at all used in the scientific literature apart from explicitly talking about the definition itself, made it explicit that they do not consider dwarf planets to be planets.
Jokes aside, why do people see “dwarf planet” as a demotion? It’s simply is different type of planet. It’s literally still called a planet, a dwarf one.
It’s not a demotion, it’s a description. People don’t say a small intestine is not an intestine anymore or is somehow lesser than the large intestine.
Is it because people think being a dwarf is bad? Is it some religious thing where evangelicals are trying to throw shade at science for “changing its mind”? If a dwarf planet isn’t a real planet, is a dwarf human not a real person?
Dwarf planets don’t get included in the solar system models. That’s the limit of most people’s understanding.
Maybe our solar system models need to be more accurate.
Ceres needs more love
The problem is if you include all the dwarf planets the list more than doubles and really you should include most of the moons too, Pluto is the biggest dwarf planet and it’s like, 1/3rd the size of our moon and 1/6th the mass. It’s really really tiny.
Eris is the most massive and initially thought to be the largest too, but now it’s known to be slightly smaller than Pluto. It was discovered in 2005, it initially appearing bigger than Pluto, plus the discovery of many similar, smaller objects nearby is what prompted the discussion of reclassification.
The universe is messy and any definition is going to encounter edge cases: planet-or-star edge cases became “brown dwarfs” and now there are also “sub-brown dwarfs” for its edge cases.
Oort cloud gang
It’s not religious necessarily, but it is absolutely tied in with cultural anti-intellectualism. I’d say astronomers are catching a stray on this one as a result of all of the other things that have been turned into culture war political talking points.
It’s possibly as simple as it being part of recitation when kids learned the solar system’s planets and now it’s just not. Some folks have a real hard time wrapping their head around the idea that a ‘fact’ they learned and knew their whole life has been decided changed. Or maybe that isn’t it. I dunno. My concern for Pluto is mostly just for shitpost value. I don’t really give a rip whether it can clear its own orbit or not.
Rock and Stone is good in my book.
It’s also not like it’s the first time. The dwarf planet Ceres was once considered a planet until it was reclassified in light of so many other objects sharing its orbit.
It’s a meme, no one actually gives a shit.
But also it clearly is a ‘demotion’, from a real planet to a “planet”-with-qualifier. The planets have have a higher cultural status and recognition than the other random floating rocks in our solar system.
The IAU redefinition, which only 441 out of nearly 10,000 members were present for the vote for it, and did not have the six months of advance notice required by their own bylaws, and is not at all used in the scientific literature apart from explicitly talking about the definition itself, made it explicit that they do not consider dwarf planets to be planets.
STOP THE COUNT!