An Open Letter to the 27th IAU General Assembly

August 6, 2009 Dear Dr. Cesarsky, Members of the IAU Executive Committee, Members of the Secretariat, Members of the Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature, and Delegates to the 27th IAU General Assembly, I am writing to urge this General Assembly to officially reopen the planet definition issue, in light of the tumultuous, controversial, and abrupt manner in which it was addressed at the 26th General Assembly in 2006. Specifically, I ask that you reconsider and add Resolution 5b from 2006, which would establish “planets” as a broad, umbrella category under which both classical and dwarf planets would be included. Doing this amounts to reconsidering a simple amendment that, if adopted, would supercede the 2006 vote on this resolution and thereby establish dwarf planets as a subcategory of planets. Additionally, I urge you to place a resolution on the table to allow electronic voting on all resolutions by all members of the IAU, for the purpose of including the voices of astronomers who for various reasons, including financial difficulties and family responsibilities, are unable to attend the two-week General Assemblies in person. This will make IAU processes more inclusive of its membership and bring them in line with the digital ...