http://sarahaskew.net/2009/08/05/iau-general-assembly-bom-dia/ sarahaskew.net Fri, 27 Apr 2012 22:05:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://sarahaskew.net/2009/08/05/iau-general-assembly-bom-dia/comment-page-1/#comment-506 sarah Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:56:44 +0000 http://sarahaskew.net/?p=1129#comment-506 Thanks for the comment. Your point is certainly valid and many share your concerns. I don't really want to get involved in the debate, I have neither the background or the interest to provide an informed opinion on the topic..... Thanks for the comment. Your point is certainly valid and many share your concerns. I don’t really want to get involved in the debate, I have neither the background or the interest to provide an informed opinion on the topic…..

]]> http://sarahaskew.net/2009/08/05/iau-general-assembly-bom-dia/comment-page-1/#comment-505 Laurel Kornfeld Mon, 10 Aug 2009 20:51:03 +0000 http://sarahaskew.net/?p=1129#comment-505 The IAU is no longer "the" organization that decides "what is a planet." They messed up that one big time in 2006; only 424 members voted on the controversial demotion, and most were not planetary scientists. Their definition was immediately rejected by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. The IAU can claim whatever it wants, but if enough scientists refuse to use its definitions, and in response, the IAU refuses to clean up the mess it made, the organization will simply become one of many and no longer the "governing body" that decides such things. The fact remains that the 2006 planet definition is terrible; it makes no sense linguistically or scientifically, and large numbers in the astronomy community are simply ignoring it. The IAU is no longer “the” organization that decides “what is a planet.” They messed up that one big time in 2006; only 424 members voted on the controversial demotion, and most were not planetary scientists. Their definition was immediately rejected by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. The IAU can claim whatever it wants, but if enough scientists refuse to use its definitions, and in response, the IAU refuses to clean up the mess it made, the organization will simply become one of many and no longer the “governing body” that decides such things. The fact remains that the 2006 planet definition is terrible; it makes no sense linguistically or scientifically, and large numbers in the astronomy community are simply ignoring it.

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