[meteorite-list] NEW PLANETARY NAMES

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Aug 18 11:57:46 2006
Message-ID: <qtobe21fq5usrstego7qnvd5504fd9nn0v_at_4ax.com>

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:16:51 -0400, you wrote:

>I am in favor of letting the scientific bodies decide this as long as
>they are fairly unanimous about it. Clyde was a very nice man and this
>was his claim to fame. I know he would be sad if this major discovery of
>that time were to be taken from him. How would the average person feel
>to make such a monumental discovery similar to this in our age, only to
>have some airheads of the modern day try to strip it from you?

Clyde Tombaugh thought that he had discovered a planet large enough to distort
the orbits of the outer gas giants, which is what he had been looking for. But
he was mistaken. If he had known then what we know now, he would probably have
seen the analogy with the asteroids and the asteroid belt. The IAU has their
reasons for defining Pluto as a planet, but "don't want to hurt feelings of long
dead nice guy Clyde Tombaugh" shouldn't be a serious issue for anyone. (Yes,
I've read the book, but has been around 20 years or so ago).

If the character of the discoverer is an issue, then what should be done about
the fact that Percival Lowell began the search, and that part of the reason the
name Pluto was so easily accepted is because the first letters are "P", "L"?
Tombaugh may have been a nice guy, but I've recenlty read some of Percival
Lowell's writings about Japan from Project Gutenberg, and that guy was a
dyed-in-the-wool racist. Sure, he had the mainstream views of the time period,
but I'll still never be able to hear his name (or the name of Pluto) again
without having a bad taste in my mouth.
Received on Fri 18 Aug 2006 11:58:51 AM PDT