What Is Early Word? The Philadelphia Inquirer's experimental online "morning show", which began in Sept. 2005, went on hiatus in the summer of 2006, after a gradual shift to putting more of its content directly on Philly.com.
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Thursday, August 17, 2006
Better Definition for a Planet?
Sure, every orbiting rock or iceball deserves to be called a planet, as long as it's round. That's what some astronomers propose. But that means rocks and iceballs about 250 miles across -- less than an eighth the width of the moon -- would get planetary status, including the asteroid Ceres. That's contrary to our intuitive idea about planets as being worlds, places large enough to camp if not live, places big enough to have a moon. Maybe that's a better definition: A round world big enough to have a round moon. Pluto would qualify, but not Ceres or the lesser Kuiper Belt iceballs.
