Astronomy 101....

Our solar systems has 9 planets....

Nah, scrap that!

So, as it seems, according to a draft decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the number of the planets of our solar system is going to come up to 12. For the last years astronomers have been discovering solar system bodies, some of them larger than Pluto (the out-most planet of our system), so the issue of what is actually a planet came up. In IAU's General Assembly that is currently being held at Prague, an actual definition of "planet" is proposed, and a new category of planets is introduced, the "plutons" (in sum, "plutons" are the planets which are far, far away from the sun). For more information, check this article.
If the decision is passed, then astronomy books will have to be rewritten, and as for us, who are already out of high school, we will have to remember the names of the 3 new members of our solar system. So, here they are:

• Ceres (named after the Roman goddess of agriculture, identified with Demeter of Ancient Greek mythology)
• Charon (the ferry-man of the dead in Ancient Greek mythology) and
• 2003 UB313

Now, believe it or not, students may not have a problem remembering the last one, which although has no official name, it has been known (and nick-named) for some time as XENA.

And yes, that IS the lady in leather and with a chakram

Planet Xena...

Imagine that!

Edit (24/08/2006):

The afore-mentioned draft was rejected since it seems that the scientific community did not want to keep on adding "planets" to our solar system, as more celestial bodies would be discovered. Instead, they decided to provide a more strict definition of planet, and as a result, the number of "planets" of our solar system has been reduced to 8. Specifically, Pluto has been "demoted" to a "dwarf planet" and in the same category falls Ceres and "Xena" (2003-UB313). More details can be found here. So, no "planet Xena" after all....

Just, do not tell Lucy...