26 August 2006

From Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition (1941) [would you believe the only dictionary here is almost ten years older than I am]:

plan'et

n.. [OF. plabete, fr, LL. planeta, fr. Gr. planetes, prop., wandering.]. 1. satron. a. Ancient, any of the seven seemingly "wandering" celestial bodies (sun, moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Saturn) as disting. from the fixed stars. b. Now, any body, except a comet or a meteor, that revolves about the sun of our solar system.. The inferior planets (nearer to the sun than is the earth) are Mercury and Venus; the superior planets (more distant than the earth) are Mars, the asteroids (plabetoids or minor planets), Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. 2. a Astrol. A stae, as influencing man’s fate. b Anything to which is imputed such influence.

clas'si-cal

. adj.. 1. Classic (senses 1 & 2). 2. Versed in, or devoted to, the classics. 3. Characteristic of or pertaining to classicism; esp., conforming to the modes or rules of the ancient Greek and Roman classics; -- contrasted with romantic. 4. Music. a Appealing to critical interest or developed taste; conforming to an established form, as a sonata.b Of or pertaining to the school of composers characterized by classicism.

dwarf

n. [AS. dweoeg, dweorh.] An animal or plant much below the normal size of its species or kind; specif., a diminutive human being. --v. t... To hinder from growing to natural size; to stunt; hence, to diminish in size, scope, power, etc. --v. i. To become dwarfed; to become small. --adj. Of less than the usual or normal size; stunted; puny. -- dwarf'ness, n.

If planet is a noun and classical is an adjective, then a. dwarf planet must be a planet since that is all you are left with if you get rid of the modifier.

A dwarf planet is a little harder since dwarf can be used as either a noun, a verb, or an adjective. I can't think of any time in American English when you use two nouns without separating them with a conjunction. When you are describing something in English you don't include a verb in the name although I believe that sentence syntax is used in other languages. That word dwarf must be being used as a modifier in this case and if you get rid of the modifier you are again left with just planet.

So, linguistically, both classical planets and dwarf planets are planets.

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I want to do a better job of describing sunspots so plan to include as much of the following information as I can locate each day I make an observation:

• P – the position angle or tilt of the Sun’s axis
• B₀ - the heliographic latitude of the Sun or how much the north pole is tipped toward or away from Earth
• the approximate solar longitude and latitude of each spot
• the characterization of each spot

Spots will be characterized using the McIntosh System which is a modification of the earlier Zurich System. The system is based on three letters representing the type of group, based on the Zurich System, a description of the second spot, and an assessment of the overall structure of the group.

The first element of the description talks about bipolar and unipolar spots (sounds like they need to see a shrink). These are described as follows:

Unipolar Sunspot Group

This is a single spot or compact cluster of spots with the greatest separation between spots being less than 3 heliographic degrees (degrees on the Sun's surface). With a Class H group the separation is taken to be the distance between the outer border of the main sunspot penumbra and the most distant attendant umbra.

Bipolar Sunspot Group

This is two or more spots forming and elongated cluster with a length of 3 or more heliographic degrees. If there is a large principal spot then the cluster should be greater than 5 degrees in extent.

McIntosh Sunspot Group
Group Type	Penumbra of largest spot	Spot Compactness
A - An individual spot or a group of spots without a penumbra or bipolar structure. This can be either the early or final stage in the evolution of the group.[merged] B - A group of sunspots without a penumbra or bipolar structure. [Firefox] or A bipolar group with no penumbrae on any spots. [ALPO] C - A bipolar sunspot group, the principal spot of which is surrounded by a penumbra. [Firefly] or A bipolar group with penumbra on one end of the group, usually surrounding the largest leader umbra. [ALPO] D - A bipolar group, the principal spots of which are surrounded by penumbrae. At least one of the two principal spots has a simple structure. The group is in general less than 10° across. [Firefox] or A bipolar group with penumbrae on spots at both ends of the group and a length of less than 10 degrees. [ALPO] E - A large bipolar group in which the two principal spots are surrounded by penumbrae and generally exhibit a complex structure. Numerous smaller spots lie between the two principal spots. The length of the group is at least 10.° across. [Firefly] or A bipolar group with penumbrae on spots at both ends of the group with a length of 10-15 degrees. [ALPO] F - A bipolar group with penumbrae on spots at both ends of the group and more than 15° long. [Firefly] or A bipolar group with penumbrae on spots at both ends of the group and a length greater than 15 degrees. [ALPO] H - A unipolar group with penumbrae, usually the remains of a bipolar group. [merged]	x - No penumbra (class A or B) r - Rudimentary penumbra that usually only partially surrounds the largest spot. Such a penumbra will likely be granular rather than filamentary, making it appear brighter than a mature penumbra. The width of the penumbra will only be a couple to a few granules (of the photospheric granulation) and may be either forming or dissolving. [ALPO] s - Small, symmetric spot (similar to Zurich Class J) and the spot will have a mature, dark, filamentary penumbra of circular or elliptical shape with a clan sharp border. If there are several umbrae in the penumbra they will form a tight cluster mimicking the symmetry of the penumbra with a north-south diameter of 2.5 degrees or less.[ALPO] a - Small, asymmetric spot with irregular surrounding penumbra and the umbrae within separated. North-south diameter of 2.5 degrees or less. [ALPO] h - Large, symetric penumbra, like type s but more than 2.5° in the N-S direction. [merged] k - Large, asymetric penumbra, like type a more than 2.5° in the N-S direction. [merged]	x - Individual spot. [Firefly] or Unipolar group of Modified Zurich Classes A or H (i.e. a solitary spot). [ALPO] o - Open distribution with few if any spots between principal spots; the group clearly consists of two parts. [Firefly] or Open distribution with a leader and follower spot and few or none between. Any spots between should be very small umbral spots. [ALPO] i - Intermediate distribution with numerous spots between principal spots, all without mature penumbra. [Firefly] c - Compact distribution with many large spots between principal spots, with at least one with a penumbra. [Firefly] or Compact distribution where the area between the leader and follower spots contains many spots with at least one having penumbra. In extreme cases the whole group may be enveloped into one complex penumbra. [ALPO]
Definitions above are taken from the following sources: Firefly - Sun Observer’s Guide A.L.P.O. Solar Section – Observing Solar White Light Flares

Information on the McIntosh System