Talk:Minor planet
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"Minor planets (or planetoids) are objects in the solar system that orbit the Sun like planets, but which are smaller than planets and not counted among them. The most common types are asteroids, comets, and trans-Neptunian objects."
Actually this is not correct. Minor planet is the official term for an asteroid.
Jyril - 15 July, 2004
I think this article should be renamed to "asteroid group" or something and "minor planet" to redirect to asteroids. Jyril 10:01, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- But this article covers all the groups of sub-planetary objects right out to the Oort cloud, not just asteroids. If not minor planet, then just what is the generic term for "not-planet Sun-orbiting object"? I think Wikipedia needs a summary article like this that covers all of them. Bryan 15:17, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Indeed. Small body is good (see for example The Nine Planets (http://www.nineplanets.org/)). It would cover meteoroids and dust too. Jyril 15:24, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Hang on, though. The definition you added to this article (whose "official definition", BTW? IAU?) says that minor planets include asteroids and trans-neptunian objects, which is exactly what this article covers anyway. I really don't see the need to rename or move anything. Bryan 15:31, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Official in the sense that IAU uses the term minor planet instead of asteroid. Only thing I don't accept that comets are also included in minor planets here. Drawing the line between comets and asteroids is historical and far-fetched, but we should use the defined terms if possible and not invent own. Jyril 18:10, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- The only place comets are described as being minor planets is the line "If a minor body produces coma it is called a comet," in the intro paragraph. This does not say that all comets are minor planets, however, just that some minor planets are also comets. This seems to be supported by List of noteworthy asteroids#Numbered asteroids that are also comets, where there is a list of bodies that are considered both asteroids and comets. In Chiron's case in particular the key characteristic that resulted in its dual citizenship seems to have been the discovery of a coma. I'll add a clarifying note. Bryan 23:18, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- "Small body" is a poor name for an article, because it is ambiguous: it could refer to a human body of short stature. I'm also not yet convinced that we need to move the article. -- hike395 16:02, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
- Doesn't the Minor Planet Center also track moons. Should those be part of the definition? Rmhermen 16:08, Jul 6, 2004 (UTC)
- In a sense they are small bodies too, but that would make it too complicated. Jyril 18:10, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Oh, as a side note, if the IAU doesn't consider comets (as a class) to be minor planets then Category:Comets should probably be recategorized (it's currently a subcategory of minor planets). Bryan 23:26, 6 Jul 2004 (UTC)