There's Something Out There

Astronomers have found a couple of new objects in our solar system, but there's not complete agreement on how to classify them. One is called 2003 UB313--it's larger than Pluto and farther away from the Sun, and some astronomers want to call it the tenth planet. The other, announced shortly before 2003 UB313 and causing some confusion with it, is 2003 EL61. It's smaller than Pluto, but it has its own moon. The second object is likely part of the Kuiper Belt, a vaguely understood band of objects orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. Some astronomers are wanting simply to identify 2003 UB313 as a Kuiper Belt object, but others claim it deserves planet status. Of course, there's also the debate among astronomers over whether Pluto itself is actually a planet and not just a Kuiper Belt object. There's no guarantee that Pluto will maintain its planetary status. The MSNBC poll linked to by the news article asks an interesting question: How many planets should there be? I'm thinking seven is a good number. But which ones do we get rid of?