Charlie Bell write: > > Either planets sweep their orbits of debris in which case we have > 14+ or they don't and we have 8. > Uh? Isn't it the other way around?
> But it's not a debate about Pluto. It's a debate about whether we > have lots of planets or we have some planets and some planetoids. > I think a much more interesting debate would be to try to explain why Mars has two tiny moonlets and Venus and Mercury have none. Probably (my guess) Mars's moons are recent acquisitions, and won't last forever. Venus and Mercury may have had moonlets in the past too, that lasted a few million years and then either crashed or flew away. IIRC, Phobos is falling and Deimos is leaving Mars. And why with 100+ moons, none of them has a sub-moon? Alberto Monteiro the nostalgic _______________________________________________ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
