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The Storied History Of The Word "Planet"

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Author Topic: The Storied History Of The Word "Planet"  (Read 82 times)
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Bianca
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« on: August 19, 2008, 01:16:28 pm »










Pandora's box?

The geophysical definition leaves open the planet window for some satellites, including Jupiter's major moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. While Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system, Callisto is the solar system's third largest satellite and Europa likely has an iron core, mantle and surface ocean similar to Earth's structure.

"These are massive worlds," said William McKinnon of Washington University in Saint Louis. "They are planets in all but name. They just happen to be going around Jupiter."

But does it matter what an object is called, at the end of the day?

"There's an implicit hierarchy. If you're a planet, you are first-class, A-list, you get inside the rope to the club and, otherwise you're nothing," McKinnon said. "There's got to be some way to communicate that these are worlds in their own right, as worthy of study as Mars."






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