This would seem to me to be a great thing for Astronomy. It puts more wonder back into our own backyard. This would give people more incentive to peer into their telescopes. Amateur astronomers may now perhaps discover a new planet. Each of these bodies is a place with a surface, horizon, hills, mountains, caves, etc... As many pointed out, it's mainly political anyway. It certainly has no actual effect on the bodies themselves, so why shouldn't 'Planet' refer to an active and growing part of Astronomy?
I think naming them and including them would help school children appreciate how vast and interesting the universe is. The idea that there are such a small number of planets in the universe that a school child could memorize them is a rediculous idea anyway. The sooner we're rid of it, the better.
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This would seem to me to be a great thing for Astronomy. It puts more wonder back into our own backyard. This would give people more incentive to peer into their telescopes. Amateur astronomers may now perhaps discover a new planet. Each of these bodies is a place with a surface, horizon, hills, mountains, caves, etc... As many pointed out, it's mainly political anyway. It certainly has no actual effect on the bodies themselves, so why shouldn't 'Planet' refer to an active and growing part of Astronomy? I think naming them and including them would help school children appreciate how vast and interesting the universe is. The idea that there are such a small number of planets in the universe that a school child could memorize them is a rediculous idea anyway. The sooner we're rid of it, the better.