Source
r/askscience•
level1

Why doesn't dwarf planet mean planet?

Planetary Sci.

To start, this isn't about Pluto's status as a planet. My question is why an object can be called a dwarf planet and not be a planet. That seems like a bad categorization system.

I can't tell if this is IAU's intention or if its just how it interpreted by the popular press. Why can't we say that Pluto, Ceres and Eris are planets, just not major planets? Conversely, why not just call the category something else, like "planetary-mass objects"?

Posted Dec 23, 2012, 6:08 AM UTC

24
iorgfeflkdBiophysics•

If you accept that "clearing the neighborhood" separates the two catgories, what's wrong with the term dwarf planets for the smaller ones?

4
level1OP•

My issue isn't with the particulars of the definition, its that "dwarf planet", a term that includes the word "planet", is not included in the group of "planets". It just seems like a bad naming scheme.

-2
CassandraVindicated•

It was used in a similar way that 'dwarf star' is used. It's a distinction that we were not knowledgeable enough to make when the original term was used.

3
Lowbacca1977Exoplanets•

You are correct in that a dwarf planet is not a planet. I suspect this boils down to that people were overly attached to the term planet and this was some level of compromise. However it's just made things that much more confusing. A lot of this would have gone smoother, I think, if there wasn't a strong public attachment to Pluto.

3