tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10609964.post115629697277531868..comments2023-10-28T04:55:06.801-07:00Comments on Royal Ramblings: Can o' WormsSotosorotohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17065491574825765076noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10609964.post-1156352577338733422006-08-23T10:02:00.000-07:002006-08-23T10:02:00.000-07:00I see the boys at the International Astronomical U...I see the boys at the International Astronomical Union are leaning towards a definition for planets that would reduce the number to 8 as well: Any object larger than 500 miles in diameter that orbits the sun, has a mass [that is at least?] roughly one-12,000th that of Earth, has enough self-gravity to pull itself into a round shape, and is the dominant object in its area. And they are using the terms "classical" and "dwarf" where I used "major" and "minor", but the results are very similar. <BR/><BR/>Their diameter and mass requirement solves your question about other solar systems.Pedicularishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10300097272859523886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10609964.post-1156344550657314232006-08-23T07:49:00.000-07:002006-08-23T07:49:00.000-07:00What happens, though, at our next solar system? W...What happens, though, at our next solar system? What if one of the gas giants has a moon larger than Earth? Would you then categorize all the terrestrial planets as asteriods?<BR/><BR/>Yes, I did the math myself. A couple formulas and a calculator do the trick every time.Sotosorotohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17065491574825765076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10609964.post-1156313360152437652006-08-22T23:09:00.000-07:002006-08-22T23:09:00.000-07:00Following your logic, there can only be 8 major pl...Following your logic, there can only be 8 major planets (Jupiter Saturn Neptune Uranus Earth Venus Mars Mercury). I have added the condition that a "major" planet must revolve around the sun and must be larger than any moons in the solar system. Perhaps being more precise, the sun must lie at the focal point of its elliptical orbit nearest perihelion. <BR/><BR/>The "minor" planets could include those smaller than the largest moon, but larger than the largest not-nearly-spherical object. Thus the minor planets are Xena and Pluto. <BR/><BR/>I suggest that Santa and all the smaller rocks (spherical or not) that have the sun at a focus of their orbit are asteroids or comets, no matter how elliptical the orbit or how far away the aphelion. <BR/><BR/>And of course, any rock that has a planet at its focal point in a moon. <BR/><BR/>Does that leave out the Trojan asteroids? No, I included them under asteroids/comets. <BR/><BR/>BTW, did you do the math yourself? Very nice. I did not know you were up to speed on gravitational physics.Pedicularishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10300097272859523886noreply@blogger.com