Congratulations, Pluto
or Planet Josh Is Soon To Follow
It's a fight that has been brewing for decades. The issue has been closely watched by a variety of crowds, from textbook authors to the people who make those glow-in-the-dark planets that you can stick on your ceiling. Finally, the International Astronomical Union has decided to settle the issue once and for all by voting on a defintion for the word "planet." The current frontrunner is a definition that would include at least 3 new planets. One is an object currently residing in the asteroid belt - Ceres. One is a moon of Pluto - Charon. The third is technically known by its IAU catalog number - 2003 UB313. Unfortunately, the astronomer who discovered it decided to be cute and nickname it "Xena" (as in, the warrior princess). Boy am I glad we have stopped using those old Shakesperean names for planetary objects. Those made us sound way too intelligent. But Xena? Eh...
We need to spice this one up a little bit. I would like to less-than-humbly recommend that the IAU name UB313 "Joshua." Why? The UB40 Coolness Scale will explain all.
Caption:The UB40 Coolness Scale resembles a parabola in shape, with one exception at UB17. This is because if you be 17, then you be legal. And I think we can all agree that that equals 100% cool.
As everyone knows, the band UB40 marks the very bottom of any coolness scale. Note that UB(pi) is approximately 75% cool, with the fruit flavor giving a margin of error of +/- 15%. Things go up in a roughly parabolical graph in either direction from the UB40 vertex. UB292 is an as-yet unnamed plutino which should be given to Stephen Colbert, since 292 is much greater than 40. I have never met a man named Joshua who wasn't a role model for all men, so the multitude of Joshuas out there add up to only slightly more than 1 Stephen Colbert. Ergo, we should be seeing Planet Joshua join the IAU's agenda after August 24th's vote. I'll try to keep everyone posted.
Keep an eye on the sky, and as always, stay young.
or Planet Josh Is Soon To Follow
It's a fight that has been brewing for decades. The issue has been closely watched by a variety of crowds, from textbook authors to the people who make those glow-in-the-dark planets that you can stick on your ceiling. Finally, the International Astronomical Union has decided to settle the issue once and for all by voting on a defintion for the word "planet." The current frontrunner is a definition that would include at least 3 new planets. One is an object currently residing in the asteroid belt - Ceres. One is a moon of Pluto - Charon. The third is technically known by its IAU catalog number - 2003 UB313. Unfortunately, the astronomer who discovered it decided to be cute and nickname it "Xena" (as in, the warrior princess). Boy am I glad we have stopped using those old Shakesperean names for planetary objects. Those made us sound way too intelligent. But Xena? Eh...
We need to spice this one up a little bit. I would like to less-than-humbly recommend that the IAU name UB313 "Joshua." Why? The UB40 Coolness Scale will explain all.
Caption:The UB40 Coolness Scale resembles a parabola in shape, with one exception at UB17. This is because if you be 17, then you be legal. And I think we can all agree that that equals 100% cool.
As everyone knows, the band UB40 marks the very bottom of any coolness scale. Note that UB(pi) is approximately 75% cool, with the fruit flavor giving a margin of error of +/- 15%. Things go up in a roughly parabolical graph in either direction from the UB40 vertex. UB292 is an as-yet unnamed plutino which should be given to Stephen Colbert, since 292 is much greater than 40. I have never met a man named Joshua who wasn't a role model for all men, so the multitude of Joshuas out there add up to only slightly more than 1 Stephen Colbert. Ergo, we should be seeing Planet Joshua join the IAU's agenda after August 24th's vote. I'll try to keep everyone posted.
Keep an eye on the sky, and as always, stay young.
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