Planetoids: Too small to be planets, big enough to be important

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Our solar system has eight planets (again, sorry Pluto).

Wait, I thought at last count there were 13 planets (including the dwarfs, like Pluto, MakeMake, et. al.). Or are those now “planetoids”? Nat Geo is counting them.

And it sounds like the actual number has creeped up to 14.

I’m going by NASA’s count, which excludes the dwarfs: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/index.cfm?CFID=9384721

And, yes, my understanding is that dwarf planets are one of the many things that are classified as planetoids.

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Makes me kinda’ wish they’d come up with an entirely different classification for the dwarfs. Even “dwarf” is too ubiquitous in astronomy what with dwarf stars. But putting “planet” after it definitely muddies the waters.

All I know is that at least one of these should be named Dorris.

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Rings at 242 and 250 miles out from the asteroid Chariklo:
Maybe the tiny denizens of this asteroid have constructed two (relatively tiny) Ringworlds!

I never gave up on you, Planet X.

I think most of them prefer to be called “Little Planets” now.

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I’m not sure what it would mean for the Oort cloud to “not exist”

Thanks Maggie i do really enjoy your posts :slight_smile:

That actually gives me and idea on what we could name the latest one:

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Planetoid Tyrion for the win!

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Planetoid Tyrion isn’t actually from the Oort cloud, but visited that frozen region out of curiosity and a stated desire to “piss off the edge of the solar system.”

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Brule should’ve been the host of the new Cosmos.

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I read that around the observatory they informally named one after Biden.

Hairball? Dr. Teeth? Coal Miner’s Daughter?

Nawww! Veep! Such a gracious plenty of euphemisms for Biden and they call it Veep!

What a waste.

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