News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Forbidden planet: was Pluto's 2006 demotion a big mistake? by space_fountain on Monday August 31, 2026 @03:05PM (#49513620)
The issue is that when we discovered Pluto we thought it was much bigger than it turned out to be. If it was as big as they thought then sure it would be a planet. As it is it isn’t even the most massive dwarf planet
Re:Forbidden planet: was Pluto's 2006 demotion a big mistake? by hn_submit on Monday August 31, 2026 @03:25PM (#49513852)
They saw a problem with the discovery of other Kuiper Belt Objects and came up with a pseudo-scientific definition to "solve" the discrepancy.
Re:Forbidden planet: was Pluto's 2006 demotion a big mistake? by vova_hn2 on Monday August 31, 2026 @03:48PM (#49514115)
> pseudo-scientific definition

How is it pseudo-scientific?

Re:Forbidden planet: was Pluto's 2006 demotion a big mistake? by jerf on Monday August 31, 2026 @04:56PM (#49514738)
Or alternatively, how would any conceivable definition not be equally "psuedo-scientific"? There isn't going to be a bright, shining line. Our own Solar System is complicated enough and if we could see out into the cosmos with equal detail the lines would get even fuzzier. Judgment calls are inevitable.