Talk:Solar System
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"But there is no objective basis for this definition" - actually the def. that evicted Pluto is pretty objective - enough self-gravity to become relatively spheroid, and to "sweep" its orbit clear of debris. ħuman
21:24, 30 September 2008 (EDT)
- The lack of objectivity comes from how arbitrary the criteria is. Oh, and the fact that Neptune hasn't swept such debris as Pluto itself from its orbit. 69.73.47.181 (talk) 00:14, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
- The orbit of Neptune and Pluto are dramatically different. They don't cross or interfere with each other (it's an illusion caused by 2-dimensional projections), so indeed Neptune has cleared its orbit. Also, don't confuse "arbitrary" with "subjective". They're not the same thing. We can make an arbitrary distinction between "space" and "not space" using a judgement of 100 miles, but that doesn't make the length of the mile subjective.
gnostic 11:38, 4 February 2013 (UTC)
- The orbit of Neptune and Pluto are dramatically different. They don't cross or interfere with each other (it's an illusion caused by 2-dimensional projections), so indeed Neptune has cleared its orbit. Also, don't confuse "arbitrary" with "subjective". They're not the same thing. We can make an arbitrary distinction between "space" and "not space" using a judgement of 100 miles, but that doesn't make the length of the mile subjective.