Thursday, August 24, 2006

The only sensible definition of a planet

The IAU has finally voted on a definition of a planet which is fated to only prolong the Great Planet Embaressment of 2006.

The only sensible definition of a planet is a celestial object satisfying these conditions:

  1. It must be in orbit around the Sun.

  2. It must be large enough that it takes on a nearly round shape

  3. In the case of a non-gaseous planet, an astronaut standing on its surface must not be able to achieve escape velocity by jumping.


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