February 03, 2006
 

What now for MVEMJSUNP?

Nature Magazine confirmed the discovery of a planet-like object larger than Pluto, currently the last planet in the solar system. This then leads to a question of what qualifies an object in the solar system to be a planet, especially given that Pluto's status as a planet has been questioned for a very long time. The object, currently named 2003 UB₃₁₃ was discovered last year.

Two years ago, scientists reported the discovery of another planet-like object, which they named Sedna.

The quest for new worlds obviously continues. But has someone bothered to worry about children who've always learnt that the best way to remember the names and orbital order of the planets was to use the mnemonic 'My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets'? Obviously multiple mnemonics exist to help remember the order of the nine planets, but this is the one I know of. Now they will have to remember the updated mnemonic, hopefully not MVEMJSUNP2, the way it would read today!

Rambled @ 5:47 PM

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2 comment(s)

I thought it had been decided that Pluto wasn't a planet?

By  Steve Middleton (Feb 3, 2006, 6:10:00 PM)  

Not as far as I know, Steve. How did you get to this blog by the way?

By  Jagadish (Feb 3, 2006, 11:30:00 PM)  

I'd prefer if you posted comments with your real name to add more credibility to your opinions. Obviously comments containing offensive and unsuitable language will be deleted. The opinions in the comments are your own views. You are welcome to provide a URL to your own blog, especially if it discusses issues you find here.