The IAU screwed up their planet definition 13 years ago today, but we've learned that dwarf planets like Pluto are full-fledged planets, &, numbering over 120, the most common type of planet, ahead of giants & terrestrials. @AlanStern @DrPhiltill @carolynporco @plutokiller
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Phil's got the historical argument. Coming from the modern planetary science community, yes, moons are planets. I usually call them "planetary bodies" but sometimes I slip & call them planets and don't feel technically incorrect.
Phil's historical document mentions major planets, secondary planets and minor planets. You're lumping major planets and secondary planets but leaving out minor planets as "planets." None of this includes the notion of "round." Also ignores the history of Ceres.
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1/ That was just one of many publications throughout the past 400 years on this topic. Until the 1950s/60s, minor planets actually were considered a type of planet. This paper documents when & why consensus developed to put them in a separate category:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0019103518303063 …
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2/ A preprint of that paper is available for free download, here: https://arxiv.org/pdf/1805.04115.pdf …
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Other than Alan Stern, have yet to hear any planetary scientists push for teaching schoolchildren that the moon is a planet. Under that definition, yes, Pluto would be a planet.
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