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[-] einkorn@feddit.org 37 points 1 month ago

Am I missing something, or are the images for "Traditionalist" and "Modern" swapped?

[-] JayDee@lemmy.sdf.org 12 points 1 month ago

Did they fix it? I currently see Pluto highlighted in Traditionalist and not in Modern.

[-] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 month ago

I believe in the freedom of information, and to that end, enjoy this rare XKCD misprint

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 6 points 1 month ago

Yup, they did. Cool.

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 9 points 1 month ago

I think you’re right.

[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

All those who wander are planets.

[-] lennee@lemm.ee 10 points 1 month ago

only pluto is a planet, I am spiteful

[-] Apepollo11@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Love it, especially the alt text.

[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 8 points 1 month ago

It's only a planet if we could walk on it. What would the name for that one be?

[-] Jyek@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 month ago
[-] Tudsamfa@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

I cannot respect people call Pluto a planet on internet forums whenever this topic comes up. Not because I agree with NASA, think their definition is perfect, or think they just cling onto nostalgia, no.

I cannot respect them because Pluto does not care and trying to white knight perceived attacks against it will not impress it, they are just being pathetic.

[-] SnowmenMelt@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

You are wrong. Pluto is hot shit and knows it.

[-] gmtom@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Wrong. Pluto is actually one of the coldest bodies in the solar system at an average of -232c

[-] RedAggroBest@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

It's not white knighting a planet. I'm literally from where it was discovered. I went on field trips to Lowell Observatory as a kid. Fuck all y'all who won't accept my planet.

All dwarf planets are planets. Don't discriminate.

[-] klu9@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 month ago

That's messed up.

[-] nexguy@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Since categorizing something a planet means nothing then traditionalist is the only way to go. If Mercury is in the same category as Jupiter and a sudden orbit change can mean a thing might no longer be called a planet then there is no scientific value in calling things planets. They are just traditional names given to fairly random objects like constellations.

[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I'm a Universalist. It is all the same thing at different phases of matter at various temperatures and pressures combined with the gravity to hold onto various materials. Keep stacking Earths over and over and you will eventually get a gas giant then a star then a black hole.

What I will never support is the stupidity of defining any object by external criteria. If a gravitationally bound world is acted upon in a way that shifts its orbit, the object cannot be redefined. This is a definition of a state, not an object. Planet, as defined by the IAU is not a noun. Such is what I expect when a highschool teacher wrote a definition instead of actual planetary scientists. I suppose such draconian nonsense was intended to show the backwardness and medieval state of the science of astronomy.

[-] adb@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago

You can hide behind fancy words but clearly this is just being simplistic

[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago
[-] adb@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

I’m sorry if you didn’t get my lame joke over the fact that the universalist and simplistic definitions of planets give the same result in the comic

[-] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

What I will never support is the stupidity of defining any object by external criteria.

https://lemmy.world/comment/15686674.

https://lemmy.world/comment/15687018

[-] j4k3@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

No valid arguments there either. Your car does not become a bicycle because it is in the bike lane. No object is ever defined by external factors. Only states can be defined by external factors. This is fundamental elementary language 101. The definition of an object is not related to a definition of state. There is absolutely no excuse for this blunder. Any obfuscation is nonsense. The conceptual foundation is fundamentally flawed.

There were no planetary scientists consulted whatsoever in this definition. There is no scientific basis. The paper in question is coauthored and the idea of a Highschool teacher in Temecula California. It has no grounding as a scientific concept. It is draconian in logic and completely baseless in science. It is reflective of dogma in the scientific community when it is defended.

[-] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

No valid arguments there either.

Just to be clear, I agree with you, and those links are me doing so. Don't quote have the hang of cross posting here on Lemmy.

~This~ ~comment~ ~is~ ~licensed~ ~under~ ~CC~ ~BY-NC-SA~ ~4.0~

[-] traches@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago

I’m partial to the simplistic view: big enough to be round, not big enough to fuse hydrogen

[-] FilthyShrooms@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

Since people have fused hydrogen on earth, I choose to believe it's not a real planet

[-] gmtom@lemmy.world 3 points 1 month ago

Technically tiny amounts of Hydrogen fusion will happen in the gas giants.

[-] traches@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

I’m sure there’s a sensible line to be drawn somewhere

[-] floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 month ago

Empiricist is a very solid take tbf

[-] Lemminary@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Who put all this color in my XKCD?

[-] plenipotentprotogod@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

I'm partial to Tom Cardy's view: Pluto isn't a planet, but that doesn't matter because it's still hot shit.

[-] mmddmm@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

What is "surface"?

Also, what is "landed"? And why is Jupiter out?

[-] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago

What is "surface"?

In this context, I believe this is limiting to planets whose water is not deep inside the planet's crust somewhere, but exposed to its atmosphere.

[-] mmddmm@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

Ok, but the gas giants should have that. We just can't see them.

Unless you want pure water. But then, how pure?

this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
357 points (100.0% liked)

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