"Planet Definitions" by XKCD comic (mirror bots @xkcd @xkcdbot ) - All the definitions of a planet, whether they've earned representation or not. https://xkcd.com/3063/ #astronomy #planetary #asteroid #geology #oops #WTF #humor
"Planet Definitions" by XKCD comic (mirror bots @xkcd @xkcdbot ) - All the definitions of a planet, whether they've earned representation or not. https://xkcd.com/3063/ #astronomy #planetary #asteroid #geology #oops #WTF #humor
![XKCD comic #3063 "Planet Definitions" https://xkcd.com/3063/
explanation from ExplainXKCD https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/3063:_Planet_Definitions
transcript truncated to fit alt-text limit:
[A table with 3 columns, labelled "Definition", "# of planets", and "Solar system". The last row is a drawing of the Solar system, with elements included in the definition of the row colored in green]
Traditionalist: Pluto is a planet
Modern: Pluto is not a planet
Expansive: Dwarf planets are planets
Ultratraditionalist: Only the classical planets are planets
Condescending: Only giant planets are planets; the rest are big asteroids.
Simplistic: Anything gravitationally round is a planet
Grounded: Only objects a spaceship has landed on are planets
Regolithic: Anything covered in dirt and ice and stuff is a planet
Lunar: You can't be a planet if you don't have a moon
Solipsitic: Earth is the only planet
Judgemental: Only the prettiest ones are planets
Empiricist: Only worlds that I, author of this table, have personally seen are planets
Marine biologist: Only objects with oceans are planets
Maritime: Only objects with surface oceans are planets
Universalist: They're all planets
Existantialist: What is space itself is a planet???
Spiteful: Only Pluto is a planet
title/mouseover text: Under the 'has cleared its orbital neighborhood' and 'fuses hydrogen into helium' definitions, thanks to human activities Earth technically no longer qualifies as a planet but DOES count as a star.](/proxy/post_attachment/1593643/18246008a6.png "XKCD comic #3063 \"Planet Definitions\" https://xkcd.com/3063/
explanation from ExplainXKCD https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/3063:_Planet_Definitions
transcript truncated to fit alt-text limit:
[A table with 3 columns, labelled \"Definition\", \"# of planets\", and \"Solar system\". The last row is a drawing of the Solar system, with elements included in the definition of the row colored in green]
Traditionalist: Pluto is a planet
Modern: Pluto is not a planet
Expansive: Dwarf planets are planets
Ultratraditionalist: Only the classical planets are planets
Condescending: Only giant planets are planets; the rest are big asteroids.
Simplistic: Anything gravitationally round is a planet
Grounded: Only objects a spaceship has landed on are planets
Regolithic: Anything covered in dirt and ice and stuff is a planet
Lunar: You can't be a planet if you don't have a moon
Solipsitic: Earth is the only planet
Judgemental: Only the prettiest ones are planets
Empiricist: Only worlds that I, author of this table, have personally seen are planets
Marine biologist: Only objects with oceans are planets
Maritime: Only objects with surface oceans are planets
Universalist: They're all planets
Existantialist: What is space itself is a planet???
Spiteful: Only Pluto is a planet
title/mouseover text: Under the 'has cleared its orbital neighborhood' and 'fuses hydrogen into helium' definitions, thanks to human activities Earth technically no longer qualifies as a planet but DOES count as a star.")