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> The current definition of "planets" and "dwarf planets" is fine. It’s serviceable, but is it ideal? What’s the scientific advantage in categorising “planets
by skissane 1mo ago
> The current definition of "planets" and "dwarf planets" is fine.
It’s serviceable, but is it ideal?
What’s the scientific advantage in categorising “planets” and “dwarf planets” as two separate categories, compared to unifying them into a single category (possibly while retaining the distinction as two different subtypes of “planet”)?
Which system would be more scientifically useful? Which would be more parsimonious?
- chabska 1mo agoThe current set of planets, we are quite confident to be complete, there are no more planets out there. The set of known dwarf planets is likely to be incomplete, we think there are many more out there. I think that's a useful distinction.