By AARON REICH, Jerusalem Post, DECEMBER 31, 2021
An image of Pluto captured by the New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 (photo credit: NASA)
Have scientists greatly misunderstood what a planet is, and has Pluto,
formerly the 9th planet in the solar system, been wrongfully revoked of
its planetary status? According to one recent academic study, that may
very well have been the case.
Indeed, this study, published in the academic journal Icarus,
posits that our entire traditional understanding of what constitutes a
planet may be wrong - a theory that has significant implications. When nine become eight
Until
2006, it was commonly accepted that the solar system had nine planets:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
However, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which
classifies the various objects in our solar system, made a ruling that
shook the astronomy world: Pluto was no longer a planet, but instead a dwarf planet, bringing our total number of planets in the solar system down to eight.
The reason for this was, ostensibly, because Pluto failed to meet
one of the three criteria needed to be considered a planet. It was
spherical and orbited the sun, but its orbit wasn't cleared of other
objects and it was influenced by Neptune's gravity.
But
according to this new study, the reason to remove Pluto's planet status
wasn't based on scientific understanding of what is a planet, but is
rather based on astrology.
The solar system (illustrative). (credit: PIXABAY)
This
paper was, essentially, the culmination of a careful five-year study of
the academic literature of astronomy and planetary sciences going back
four centuries to figure out just what is a planet.
According to Galileo, the definition of a planet was simple: An object in space that is geologically active.
And
indeed, according to the literature, that definition held firm from the
1600s until the early 20th century. Here, two things came into play: a
decline in planetary science articles in academia and the popularity of
almanacs, books that were rooted in astrology.
And this could have caused astrology to worm its way into planetary classification.
“We
found that there were enough almanacs being sold in England and in the
United States that every household could get one copy every year,” lead
author Philip Metzger, PhD of the University of Central Florida's
Florida Space Institute said in a statement.
“This
might seem like a small change, but it undermined the central idea
about planets that had been passed down from Galileo,” he explained.
“Planets were no longer defined by virtue of being complex, with active
geology and the potential for life and civilization. Instead, they were
defined by virtue of being simple, following certain idealized paths
around the Sun.”
This
began to change in the 1960s when interest in planetary science was
renewed. But in 2006, the IAU ruled Pluto was not a planet and did this
by creating a third requirement, of having a clear orbit, which
seemingly had seldom been used in planetary science before.
Should Pluto Be a Planet Again?
The removal of Pluto
According
to Metzger, the idea was to intentionally keep the number of planets in
the solar system small. This was not just because of Pluto though, but
because of other objects. A few other objects had been known in the
solar system by 2006, when this decision was made. These include the
dwarf planets Makemake and Eris.
Metzger believes the decision was meant to exclude them as well as Pluto.
This
usage of astrology to limit the number of planets and inclusion of
never-before-used criteria has, as Metzger puts it, led most scientists
to ignore the IAU, NBC reported.
So why does this debate over planetary classification in our solar system and the status of Pluto matter?
For
several reasons. One of these is that using this astrology-based
classification system is harmful to the study of planetary science as it
leaves what should be considered planets disregarded.
But
one of the biggest reasons is that planetary science is rapidly
expanding and the possibilities for further study are increasing.
This
is especially true with growing interest in the study of exoplanets -
planets outside the solar system - and the recent launch of NASA's new
James Webb Space Telescope, the most advanced space telescope ever
launched, which will be able to change how scientists study the many
objects and phenomenon populating the universe - including planets.
That's Why Pluto Is Not a Planet Anymore
In
fact, it also brings greater attention to our own solar system as well,
because it isn't just Pluto that has been misclassified under the
Galileo definition.
Other
objects traditionally considered moons like Titan, Triton and more
would, under this definition, be considered a planet because they are
geologically active.
But
this begs the question: If our understanding of planets is wrong, and
other objects in the solar system could qualify as planets under the
Galileo definition, then how many planets does the solar system really
have? According to Metzger: Probably around 150.
This
definition, if accepted back into the mainstream properly, could help
expand our understanding of planetary science and see that our solar
system may be a lot more crowded than we first thought.
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