Comment on Size Comparison: Pluto and Australia
youngalfred@lemm.ee 5 weeks agoAbsolute size isn’t really in the criteria for a planet though. Pluto isn’t a planet because it shares its orbit with lots of other icy bodies in the Kuiper belt.
Comment on Size Comparison: Pluto and Australia
youngalfred@lemm.ee 5 weeks agoAbsolute size isn’t really in the criteria for a planet though. Pluto isn’t a planet because it shares its orbit with lots of other icy bodies in the Kuiper belt.
toast@retrolemmy.com 5 weeks ago
Exactly. That’s also why Jupiter, which shares its orbit with thousands of asteroids, isn’t a planet either.
youngalfred@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Do you mean the Trojans? They’re excluded from the mass calculation of ‘clearing the neighbourhood’ because they’re in a resonant orbit - their orbit is a consequence of Jupiter’s mass.
toast@retrolemmy.com 5 weeks ago
I don’t know. I don’t think we should make excuses for Jupiter just because of its size. Pluto’s doing the best it can. Could any of us do any better, so far out from the sun?
youngalfred@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
Jupiter does throw its weight around a bit too much.
Murdoc@sh.itjust.works 5 weeks ago
Jupiter was declared too big to fail.