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Gad Posted 20 years ago
Science & IT

The new definition of the word "planet" from the IAU.

The International Astronomical Union http://www.iau.org/ held its 26th
General Assembly in Prague recently. As some of you may have heard,
one of the issues of interest to the wider public was the attempt to provide
a new scientific definition for the word "planet". The resolutions proposed
can be viewed here:

http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0602/

and the result of the voting seen here

http://www.iau2006.org/mirror/www.iau.org/iau0603/

Resolutions 5B and 6B failed to gain approval. I have tried to write a
brief analysis of the consequences of this as I believe it will be a topic
that will recur in astronomical forums for some time and I would
appreciate constructive criticism of the content:

http://www.georgedishman.f2s.com/astronomy/planet.html

In particular I have used the term "indivisible phrase" to describe the
nomenclature "dwarf planet" as a group which does not overlap the
definition of "planet" due to their mutually exclusive selection criteria.
Is there a specific term for such a construct that is more appropriate?

Best regards
George
  
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