MissConstrue wrote:
When did this happen?
Wow, I need to get a new book on the solar system and get rid of any old ones.
Pluto's not a planet anymore?
After the discovery of Eris, a Kuiper-belt object bigger than Pluto, astronomers were forced to actually define the term "planet". The first proposed definition would have permitted keeping Pluto, but would have added Eris, four or five other Kuiper objects, and the asteroid Ceres to the roster of planets. The other, which they wound up going with, placed a lower limit on the size of a planet, which left Pluto, Eris, Ceres, and the other small ones in the new category of "dwarf planet".
(For those who only paid attention to the beginning of the controversy, and don't recognize Eris, that's the official name, for the Greek goddess of discord. The astronomer who first discovered it, in an impish mood, gave it a temporary tag of "Xena" until things got settled.)
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Sodium is a metal that reacts explosively when exposed to water. Chlorine is a gas that'll kill you dead in moments. Together they make my fries taste good.