Attack of the Pluto!

Bad Astronomy
By Phil Plait
Jul 25, 2012 10:21 PMNov 19, 2019 9:20 PM

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I was interviewed once again on the G4 TV program "Attack of the Show!" - I guess they didn't learn their lesson the first time - where my pal Matt Mira (from Nerdist!) and I talked about planets around other stars, and whether Pluto is a planet or not. Here's the segment (you may need to refresh this page to load it):

I pretty much restated my case that I've been making about Pluto for quite some time

: you can't really define what a planet is, so the argument over whether Pluto is one or not is the wrong thing to be talking about. The fact that a fifth moon was recently found

is irrelevant; "planet" is more of a concept than a defined object. Trying to draw firm borders around a fuzzy thing like this only guarantees more arguing and less light shed on the topic. Anyway, it was a fun interview, and it's always a good day when I can get one good zinger in, especially at Matt's expense.


Related Posts: - Mars Attacks of the Show! - In which we define what a planet is - A fifth moon for Pluto! - Shining shoes for NASA - My Nerdist episode is online!

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