Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
SPACE.comWed Jun 11, 11:49 AM ET
Updated 11:36 a.m. ET
The International Astronomical Union has decided on the term "plutoid" as a
name for dwarf planets like Pluto.
Sidestepping concerns of many astronomers worldwide, the IAU's decision, at a
meeting of its Executive Committee in Oslo, comes almost two years after it
stripped Pluto of its planethood and introduced the term "dwarf planets" for
Pluto and other small round objects that often travel highly elliptical paths
around the sun in the far reaches of the solar system.
The name plutoid was proposed by the members of the IAU Committee on Small Body
Nomenclature (CSBN), accepted by the Board of Division III and by the IAU
Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN), and approved by the
IAU Executive Committee at its recent meeting in Oslo, according to a statement
released today.
Here's the official new definition:
"Plutoids are celestial bodies in orbit around the sun at a distance greater
than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to
overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium
(near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighborhood around their
orbit."
In short: small round things beyond Neptune that orbit the sun and have lots of
rocky neighbors.
The two known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris, the IAU stated. The
organization expects more plutoids will be found.
Controversy continues
Already the IAU recognizes it is adding to an ongoing controversy.
The IAU has been responsible for naming planetary bodies and their satellites
since the early 1900s. Its decision in 2006 to demote Pluto was highly
controversial, with some astronomers saying simply that they would not heed it
and questioning the IAU's validity as a governing body.
"The IAU is a democratic organization, thus open to comments and criticism of
any kind," IAU General Secretary Karel A. van der Hucht told SPACE.com by email
today. "Given the history of the issue, we will probably never reach a complete
consensus."
It remains to be seen whether astronomers will use the new term.
"My guess is that no one is going to much use this term, though perhaps I'm
wrong," said Caltech astronomer Mike Brown, who has led the discovery of
several objects in the outer solar system, including Eris. "But I don't think
that this will be because it is controversial, just not particularly
necessary."
Brown was unaware of the new definition until the IAU announced it today.
"Back when the term 'pluton' was nixed they said they would come up with
another one," Brown said. "So I guess they finally did."
More debate coming
The dwarf planet Ceres is not a plutoid as it is located in the asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter, according to the IAU. Current scientific knowledge
lends credence to the belief that Ceres is the only object of its kind, the IAU
stated. Therefore, a separate category of Ceres-like dwarf planets will not be
proposed at this time, the reasoning goes.
A meeting, planned earlier this year for Aug. 14-16 at Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory, aims to bring astronomers of varying viewpoints
together to discuss the controversy. "No votes will be taken at this conference
to put specific objects in or out of the family of planets," APL's Dr. Hal
Weaver, a conference organizer, said in a statement in May. "But we will have
advocates of the IAU definition and proponents of alternative definitions
presenting their cases."
The term plutoid joins a host of other odd words -- plutinos, centaurs,
cubewanos and EKOs -- that astronomers use to define objects in the outer solar
system.
Why Planets Will Never Be Defined The History of the Pluto Controversy Gallery:
Our New Solar System Original Story: Pluto Now Called a Plutoid