Pluto-like objects to be called 'plutoids'

Pluto-like objects to be called 'plutoids'

space.newscient ist.com

From now on Pluto won't just be any dwarf planet, it will be a 'plutoid.'
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the name today after two years of deliberation. The new classification will be used to refer to bright dwarf planets that spend the bulk of their time outside Neptune's orbit.
So far, Pluto and its larger neighbour, Eris, are the only named objects that qualify as plutoids, but more dwarf planets are expected to follow.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The guys at either IAU and or NASA must be expecting to find a lot of things shortly if they are naming a new group of objects. Hopefuly there are exiting times in the near future.

Somehow, I think we will also be seeing a new name for this group

But the name is not universally loved. "It sounds like 'hemorrhoid' and it sounds like 'asteroid', and of course these objects are planets and not asteroids,"

As well as a new definition of Plutoids

'Plutoids' must also be a minimum brightness, a requirement that will exclude dozens of dwarf planet candidates that have been spotted in the Kuiper belt, a ring of icy objects beyond Neptune, says Michael Brown of Caltech in Pasadena, US.
"That's an odd definition," Brown told New Scientist. "It makes objects of exactly the same size 'plutoids' or 'not plutoids' depending on what's covering their surface." If Pluto were covered with dust, Brown notes, it might not be considered a plutoid.

I cannot see why ‘brightness’ would be a defining characteristic. I would have gone more along the lines of size to start with. But what do I know?
Any which way It looks like the K. belt is going to be looked at in a lot more detail. It could also be possible, I think, that they may find some degree of life out there. Extreme cold loving life, but life just the same.


space.newscient ist.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I thought I should also mention right from the get go.
Please for the love of God/Allah/Buddha/Krishna/Ra or your personal chosen deity, do not turn this into a PX discussion.
It should be enough that we have potential to find new planets out there and learn more about our cosmic surrounds.

Here is a little more. Looks like those opposed to the Pluto demotion wont go down without a fight.

[urk=http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/labnotes/archive/2008/06/12/pluto-finally-gets-some-respect-sort-of.aspx] Pluto Finally Gets Some Respect. Sort Of.[/url]

That left only Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune as planets. Joining Pluto as a dwarf planet was Eris—the original 2003 UB313. Eris is, appropriately, the Greek god of discord and strife, which is exactly what followed Pluto’s demotion.

Will junking the disrespectful term “dwarf planet” in favor of “plutoid” appease Pluto fans? With only the two members so far, it’s not exactly an impressive group, but astronomers fully expect to discover more of them in the Kuiper Belt.

As I speculated earlier they may well find more and I for one am looking forward to the new discoveries.