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Okay, but then you have to go and figure out which other asteroid and kuiper belt objects are planets. The 'dwarf planet' distinction helps solve this! There
by jameshart 4y ago
Okay, but then you have to go and figure out which other asteroid and kuiper belt objects are planets.
The 'dwarf planet' distinction helps solve this! There are planets - distinctive in that they have clear orbits - and there are dwarf planets, which can be part of belt systems. This is a useful distinction.
- runarberg 4y agoSure it is, but the distinction between terrestrial planets and gas giants are also useful, that doesn’t mean the latter aren’t planets. I think it is fine that there are more objects planets then we can meaningfully count. Loads of things in our language act like that. E.g. a bug can be any number of things, and you know what a bug is by just talking about it. If some insect society then comes up with a meaningful definition of bugs which excludes spiders, that definition isn’t really doing the average user of that word any favor.