[meteorite-list] The Term "Planetary"

[Ted Bunch]

At a time in the distant past, NASA in its infinite wisdom made general
reference to the solar system bodies as comets, asteroids, planets and their
satellites, the latter referenced as planetary. Satellite is an ugly term
and there are a lot of moons. So, to include our moon in the planetary fold
seems reasonable, at least for meteorite people. Besides, the mostly
accepted theory about the origin of the Moon is that it came from the Earth
via impact and accretion of debris, so the Moon is a viable planetary body
in its own right.
 
Live with it - who knows, may be angrites come from Mercury.

Ted


On 3/18/11 11:44 AM, "fallingfusion at wi.rr.com" <fallingfusion at wi.rr.com>
wrote:

> To the list,
> 
> I was sitting here reading some emails, and just thought...
> 
> Who in the world ever came up with the term "Planetary" in reference to
> meteorites.
> 
> First of all, our Moon isn't a planet.. and secondly, to my knowledge, the
> only "Planetary" meteorites in current existence have an origin of Mars.
> Hence, "Martian" meteorites. Did I miss the big  announcement of those from
> Venus and Mercury?
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Ryan
> 
> Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
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