You know how farmers say certain things will come to pass – like perfect weather, low input costs, a bumper crop and record high commodity prices – when all the planets come into alignment?
Well, brace yourself.
Now that there may be at least 12 official planets instead of the previously accepted nine, the odds of planetary alignment are even more, well, astronomical, to put it plainly.
Perhaps you’ve been following the latest debate in the world of astronomy as a committee of scientists and historians seeks to establish the official definition of a planet.
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For a time, there were worries that Pluto, the ninth planet from the sun and seemingly the favourite of many a schoolchild, would be declassified. But this week at a meeting in Prague, it appears astronomers are poised to approve a definition that might see as many as 12 known bodies defined as planets, with the possibility of many more earning the same designation.
If a celestial body orbits a star, and if it is itself neither a star nor a moon, and if its own gravity is sufficient to have forced it into a round shape, says the proposed new definition, then it may officially be a planet.
That would see Ceres, a big asteroid, and Charon, now known as Pluto’s main moon, added to the list of planets.
So would 2003 UB313, known for the moment as Xena. It’s the latter heavenly body, discovered in 2003, which provoked scientists into creating an official planetary definition. And though Xena sounds like it would fit right in with the other planets named for ancient Roman and Greek gods, it’s said to be an unofficial name only, borrowed from Xena, the warrior princess of television and movie fame.
If you don’t think names are important, think back to your own school days of anatomy and science lessons, when the mere mention of Uranus would send titters through the classroom. Emphasis on the first syllable, please, and show some respect for the Greek god of the heavens.
Names and definitions are all well and good, and important to the scientific community, but regardless of outcome at the Prague meeting, the clear night sky will remain to most of us as beautiful and magical and awe-inspiring as ever.
Whether viewed from the back porch, the combine or the grain truck, maybe you can take a wee moment during harvest this year to enjoy it.
And you know, in light of our desires for that perfect convergence of happy circumstances, we’ve got the perfect name for a new planet.
Let’s call it Alignment.
