Well the votes are in, and Pluto has gotten the axe as have the other new planets that originally were going to be included. Our solar system has eight planets. Pluto is reclassified as a "dwarf planet" along with Ceres and 2003 UB313...   more »

Well... maybe you should forget all that.  The IAU meeting in Prague is becoming quite heated... apparently a lot of scientists have got different opinions as to what constitutes a planet.  At this point it looks like the current definition, which I think is elegant and thoughtful, isn't going to survive the vote.  An alternate definition that makes the neighborhood a body is in relevant to the definition, seems to be gaining favor.  Basically the new definition is similar to the previous one, except that it states a body must be "by far the largest" (whatever that means) in its "local region" (whatever THAT means).  Which basically means Earth at present is a planet, but if there were 40 Earth-sized worlds all sharing the same orbit as Earth, Earth would no longer be a planet.  And further, the new definition does nothing to address binary planets.  This definition would exclude Pluto and the other proposed new planets, leaving the count at 8 planets.  Stay tuned folks...

The Sol Planetary Pack now comes with three new collectibles. They are Ceres, Charon, and 2003 UB313. What am I on about? Read on...   more »

For me the Perseid meteor shower has been poor every year because without fail there are clouds in the sky on August 12.  Have been every time I've looked for the Perseids since the first time I saw them at summer camp 29 years ago.  This year, even if there are no clouds, there's going to be a brilliant moon spoiling the shower.  This Nasa website on the 2006 Perseids suggests viewing before the moon rises for rare "Earth grazers" (that is, meteors that hit the atmosphere nearly horizontally and skip across the sky like a rock bouncing on a pond.)  Apparently this type of Perseid is very rare, and you are likely to only see 1 or 2 before the moon rises and ruins the show.  Murphy's law dictates that this year, the sky will be brilliantly clear just to piss me off.  Wait and see.