MPEC 2006-R19 : EDITORIAL NOTICE

Read MPEC 2006-R18 Read MPEC 2006-R20

M.P.E.C. 2006-R19                                Issued 2006 Sept. 7, 17:35 UT

     The Minor Planet Electronic Circulars contain information on unusual
         minor planets and routine data on comets.  They are published
   on behalf of Commission 20 of the International Astronomical Union by the
          Minor Planet Center, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory,
                          Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.

                  Supported in part by the Brinson Foundation
                  Supported in part by the TABASGO Foundation
             Prepared using the Tamkin Foundation Computer Network

                              MPC@CFA.HARVARD.EDU
          URL http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/mpc.html  ISSN 1523-6714

                               EDITORIAL NOTICE

                               (From MPC 57525)

     At the IAU General Assembly in Prague on Aug. 24 a very substantial
majority of the members present agreed to accept that the solar system
contains just eight "planets" (Mercury-Neptune) and that objects in hydrostatic
equilibrium orbiting the sun but not dominating their vicinity would be
considered as "dwarf planets".  (1) Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB313 were
identified as members of this new category, with other objects such as 2003
EL61 and 2005 FY9 likely to be added in the future.  Since at least
one of the "dwarf planets" is already included in the catalogue of numbered
"minor planets"--with comets and other natural sun-orbiting material a
component of a new category of "small solar-system bodies"--and since the
Minor Planet Center Terms of Reference emphasize the need for the MPC to
maintain a database of the astrometric observations of such bodies observed
beyond the confines of the earth's atmosphere, Pluto and the above-mentioned
three provisionally designated objects are now being added to this list of
objects with reliable orbit determinations under the numbers (134340),
(136199), (136108) and (136472), respectively.  It should be noted that, just
as some of the numbered objects that have exhibited cometary activity also
have designations in the catalogue of numbered periodic comets, the numbering
of "dwarf planets" does not preclude their having dual designations in
possible separate catalogues of such bodies.

Timothy B. Spahr             (C) Copyright 2006 MPC           M.P.E.C. 2006-R19

Read MPEC 2006-R18 Read MPEC 2006-R20

Our Web policy. Index to the CBAT/MPC/ICQ pages.

MPC