Introducing the Plutoids. June 12, 2008
Posted by astroed in Astronomy, Education.trackback
Welcome Pluto and Eris, the first of the Plutoids. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has finally resolved the naming of Solar System objects such as Pluto. At their General Assembly in Prague in 2006 the IAU voted to reclassify Pluto. It was no longer a planet but instead was known as a dwarf planet. At the time terms such as pluton were suggested but this was already used in geology. From the media release:
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 neighbourhood around their orbit. The two known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris.
Ceres does not qualify as it resides in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
There is a useful teaching resource about the initial naming controversy that is freely available from the Astronomy Education Review site. This provides teachers and other educators with some effective learning strategies.
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