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...doesn't stop there. What do you call all the other planetlike objects that have lately been discovered orbiting around our sun, tiny worlds with names like Sedna, Quaoar and 2004 DW? Part of the problem is that there is no precise scientific definition of the word planet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is trying to hammer one out, but the decision is proving more difficult than anyone thought. An apparent consensus, reached just weeks ago, seems to have fallen apart. "The current state," admits Brian Marsden, director of the IAU's Minor Planet Center at Harvard, "is rather confusing...
...roundness rule would add lots of planets to the solar system in one fell swoop: not just Sedna, Quaoar and 2003 UB313 but also two more icy worlds spotted by Brown and Trujillo--2004 DW, a little bigger than Quaoar, and 2003 EL61, probably about seven-tenths the size of Pluto. The latter made headlines when it was formally announced to the world by Spanish astronomers who, according to Brown, knew where to look because they had used the Internet to tap into his telescope logs (the Spaniards deny the charge). At least five or six asteroids would also qualify...
...DW: Well, next week Bush delivers his State of the Union address and unveils the details of his budget, which is a key moment for him. And congressional Democrats are already sensing a shift in momentum to their...
...DW: Absolutely. Bush also can't get away any longer with just talking about spending and tax cuts in generalities. Baucus all this week and last has been borrowing from the "Jerry McGuire" film and chiding Bush to "show us the budget." Bush succeeded in his charm offensive with Democrats during his first three weeks in the White House. But the meetings were devoid mostly of specifics and their value couldn't last forever...
...DW: Well, there's this danger that Congressional Democrats are playing into Bush's hands. The White House already knows that Bush's honeymoon will end soon and its top people are previewing this to reporters so they set the bar low for Bush. He's a master at keeping expectations low, then exceeding them. As one senior Senate GOP aide told me, "We are going to be aggressively underestimating ourselves throughout the entire process. That way we husband the momentum of the President and weather some of these ups and downs...