Mat Bowles

Insert Humour Here

It’s now, officially, a “plutonian object”

BBC reports that the resolution is passed.

RESOLUTION 5A

The IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:

(1) A planet1 is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

(2) A dwarf planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape2, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and
(d) is not a satellite.

(3) All other objects3 orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as “Small Solar System Bodies”.

1The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
2An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.
3These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.

RESOLUTION 5B

Insert the word “classical” before the word “planet” in Resolution 5A, Section (1), and footnote 1. Thus reading:

(1) A classical planet1 is a celestial body . . .

and

1The eight classical planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

IAU Resolution: Pluto

RESOLUTION 6A
The IAU further resolves:

Pluto is a dwarf planet by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects.

RESOLUTION 6B

The following sentence is added to Resolution 6A:

This category is to be called “plutonian objects.”

You’d have thought that, during their biggest conference news in years, they’d manage to not schedule essential maintenence on their main website? Mirrors are fine, but the mirroe is way down the Google results for them.

ETA: They rejected resolution 5B, which means that a dwarf planet is not a type of planet, but a wholly different thing. So they’ve both redefined the solar system and the rules of grammar. Go IAU!

August 24th, 2006 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | 4 comments

Mat’s guide to life (part ?)

If in doubt on any given issue, read , as the fluffy elephant seems to have its head screwed on.

If there is a banging on the flat next doors door, it means that someone has let someone past the security door when they shouldn’t have. If, on opening th edoor to find out what is going on, you are greeted with a distraught looking female, react according to instinct.

If, on asking said female (of indeterminate age but looks wasted) if she’s looking for the neighbour, she collapses into a sob story, pay attention to words of sob story. If she says “he paid me to have sex with him, but gave me a checque, so I can’t afford to pay for the B&B tonight and I’ve nowhere to sleep”, then turning off your normal altruistic instincts might be a good plan. Esepcially if oyu happen to know the bastard is actually in but not answering the door.

If the lady upstairs (Anne) gestures to you to run and leave it, probably a good plan to shut the door and not get involved.

FFS, I need to move out of this building. Girl claimed to Anne that a) she’s 16 (she looked a lot more, um, “lived in”, but was definately off her face on something) b) he’d given her a cheque for £400 (um, for sex? with that? he’s stupid, but not that stupid - besides, if it’s for that much, it’s definately rubber, he’s as skint as me, but earns (a lot) less). Spoke to Anne after she left (Mike never opened the door). She’d rung him from upstairs, he wasn’t going to leave the flat. Even the girls downstairs (who, let’s just say, aren’t the nicest of neighbours) thought she was a problem.

Charity? Maybe it ought to begin at home. But to bring back 16 year old drug addicts and pay them for sex with a rubber cheque, and then hide from them and let your neighbours deal with it? I thought he was the decent neighbour (apart from Anne).

August 24th, 2006 Posted by MatGB | Uncategorized | 8 comments