On Planets

[lostcarpark]

I seem to have put my foot in it on someone's Facebook post (I'd post a link, but Facebook doesn't really like outside linking

Comments

[drplokta]

Planets only have to have cleared their orbit of bodies of comparable size. This rules out Ceres (there are other asteroids that aren't much smaller) and Pluto (umm, Neptune), but the asteroids that cross the orbit of Earth (and moreso Mars) aren't a problem.

[lostcarpark]

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a very clever rule, and I don't think Pluto should count as a planet (unless you want it to). But it's still a hack to try to tie together objects that don't have very much in common.

[alexmc]

I think your CD example needs a diagram :-)

So I went looking for one.

The first I cam across was the middle diagram in this page amusingly called

http://nineplanets.org/overview.html

This is a java applet showing orbits over time

http://burtleburtle.net/bob/physics/solar.html

but Pluto quickly shoots off the screen

Hi |I think you're wrong

[anonymous]

Hello A very nice niche blog, and a good design there sparks Simplicity yet complex algorithm of the internet. Thank You.