tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5087248.post7993369883556628142..comments2023-08-18T10:13:37.148-05:00Comments on The Radioaffliction: With Host Peter A. Clay and Friends: Radioaffliction Vol. 9.1: Twittering With $2 Dollar Bills will Make Pluto a Planet(in Illinois)!Peter A. Clayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05289042718420693760noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5087248.post-51881015686164065412009-03-25T15:07:00.000-05:002009-03-25T15:07:00.000-05:00Thanks for your kind words about my blog. I do bel...Thanks for your kind words about my blog. I do believe that Pluto is a planet, not a comet. It is much larger than any comet and never comes into the inner solar system. It is not only in hydrostatic equilibrium; it is almost certainly differentiated into core, mantle, and crust, just like the larger planets--and unlike comets. Also, any planet brought close enough to its parent star will develop a tail due to outgassing. Earth is 30 times closer to the sun than Pluto. If Earth were brought 30 times closer to the sun than it is now (the comparison to bringing Pluto into Earth's orbit), it would grow a tail as well due to sublimation. I think we need to be open to more subtypes of planets than we have previously considered.<BR/><BR/>As for the state of Illinois having bigger issues, at least they did impeach their governor. And the same could be said about the IAU--they also have bigger issues but instead chose to spend their time doing more harm than good with this ridiculous planet definition that is unlikely to hold up over time.Laurel Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02387883186244337619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5087248.post-26684586334532310712009-03-25T13:12:00.000-05:002009-03-25T13:12:00.000-05:00Laurel, love you comment, and love your blog.howev...Laurel, love you comment, and love your blog.<BR/><I>however!</I><BR/>In the strictest sense Pluto is not a Planet, it's probably closer to a comet. <BR/>But then Jupiter may be a benign nebula and so on and so forth.<BR/>The bigger point was that The State of Illinois was taking legislative time to declare it a planet, when they have bigger issues, like the naming of The Sears Tower or which Gov. they are going to boot out next.Peter A. Clayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05289042718420693760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5087248.post-14438110045941750202009-03-25T12:25:00.000-05:002009-03-25T12:25:00.000-05:00No need to twitter with anything. Pluto IS a plane...No need to twitter with anything. Pluto IS a planet. The controversial demotion was done by only four percent of the International Astronomical Union, most of whom are not planetary scientists, and was immediately opposed in a petition of hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Even now, many astronomers and lay people are working behind the scenes to overturn the demotion or are ignoring it entirely.Laurel Kornfeldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02387883186244337619noreply@blogger.com