Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Talking about Planets' that was published in Newsband

Talking about Planets

In 2006 the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to remove Pluto’s planetary status. Now some researchers are challenging this decision. The IAU, in 2006, designated Pluto a ‘dwarf planet’

Three conditions for a celestial object to be called a planet are: one, it must orbit the Sun; two, it should be massive enough to acquire an approximately spherical shape; three, it has to ‘clear its orbit’. Dwarf planets, on the other hand, need only satisfy the first two conditions.

This rationale has been questioned by Philip Metzger, a planetary physicist who has worked with the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and others. Pluto will continue to be a puzzle planet.  Striping poor Pluto of its planetary saddened many, for they have a sentimental connect with it. In their school days, their teacher taught them about the nine planets. Though they are amenable to scientific reasoning, their sentiments compel them to ask for maintenance of dwarf planet status of it.

That Science is not a dogmatic thought-process nor a mere collection of observations and data - is again and again proved by the manner in which every phenomenon that is observed and studied, before interpreting and finalizing the systematic definition that becomes a Theory. The subject of Pluto is still in the "observational study" stage, and it may be a few more years before the world comes to a definite conclusion - even (possibly) redefining the Concept of PLANET in Solar System

Now let us talk about Mars. A global dust storm that enshrouded Mars — halting operations for NASA’s Opportunity rover — continues to abate, raising scientists’ hopes to hear back from the 15-year-old, solar-powered probe. Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in the US believe that the rover will soon receive enough sunlight to automatically initiate recovery procedures, if it is not damaged. A two-step plan has been developed to provide the highest probability of successfully communicating with the rover and bringing it back online.

The dust storm on Mars was first detected on May 30 and the rover’s last communication with Earth was received on June 10. Opportunity engineers are relying on the expertise of Mars scientists analysing data from the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to estimate the tau near the rover’s position.

With skies clearing, mission managers are hopeful the rover will attempt to call home, but they are also prepared for an extended period of silence. The impact of this latest storm is unknown but could have resulted in reduced energy production, diminished battery performance, or other unforeseen damage that could make it difficult for the rover to fully return online.

Lastly, the Hubble Space Telescope has started a new mission to study six massive galaxy clusters that may help shed light on how the earliest galaxies evolved in the universe, NASA said. This is crucial for our understanding of the cosmos.

Using the cosmological trick — known as strong gravitational lensing — Hubble is able to explore some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the universe. So that’s all about the planets.