Pluto-Charon and the New Worlds

New Horizons
Now that New Horizons has blazed by the Pluto-Charon system and sent back so many remarkable pictures of ice mountains, frozen nitrogen seas, globe-spanning chasms, misty valleys and glacial flows I feel it's time to rethink what to call them. I say "them" because the two astronomical bodies in question orbit each other as a pair. And around them orbits a system of smaller bodies known as Nix, Styx, Hydra, and Kerberos. These are not a cluster of random objects wandering around the sun, but an organized system not unlike those of Jupiter and Saturn.

Ice Mountains and Hazy Valleys

Dwarves
The IAU and Neil DeGrasse Tyson have chosen to rename Pluto to be a "Dwarf Planet". That's a nice moniker, but I really don't imagine two of the most geologically dynamic bodies in our solar system to carry a pick-axe while whistling a working tune on their way to the mines. A tag more significant must be applied to these objects.

What is a Planet Anyway?

Artist Rendering of Saturn

The English word "planet" derives from the greek word "planētai" which means "wanderer". It was used specifically as a term to define five celestial objects that didn't follow the stars and weren't the already-named "Sun", "Earth", and "Moon". I suggest we go back to that definition of planet and leave that term to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Nothing else should be called a planet. The Sun, Moon, and Earth would get the unique definition of their own names befitting their very special places in our lives.

Names New and Old
So where does that leave the remaining celestial bodies, discovered and undiscovered, in our solar system? I suggest four groups for the remaining objects: these groups would be known as "comets", "asteroids", "moons", and "worlds".

Comets
Comets are easy. They would still remain the celestial objects that exhibit both a parabolic orbit around the Sun and at least some point in their travels vent a tail.

Moons
Moons aren't too difficult either. They would be all of the bodies that orbit a "planet" or "world". Charon doesn't count as a moon because the center of orbit is between it and Pluto. Titan - a much larger body is still a moon because it's center of orbit is within the diameter of Saturn, which is one of our familiar planets. But what is a "world"?

Asteroids or Worlds?

Ceres

Now we get to the more challenging objects. What is the difference between a "world" and an "asteroid"? Traditionally, every body that orbits the Sun between Mars and Jupiter has been called an Asteroid. That might be acceptable, but there are many other objects already discovered outside of that band that we also call "asteroids". I suggest every object in an elliptical orbit around the Sun that doesn't meet any other criteria be called an asteroid.



Worlds
There are, however, still quite a few objects that orbit the Sun in an elliptical orbit that I would not call an asteroid. In my opinion, the decision is easy. For me, any object that is large enough and dense enough to form a nearly spherical shape and orbits the Sun in an ellipse should be called a "World". This would include, but not be limited to, Ceres, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Charon, and Eris.

Pluto-Charon Rise Again

Artist Rendering of Pluto-Charon

If we follow this logic then our solar system would be composed of the Sun, Earth, Moon, the Planets, the Worlds, the Moons, the Asteroids, and the Comets. The planets would be as they originally were defined: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The worlds of Ceres, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Charon, and Eris (there are other unnamed and undiscovered Kuiper Belt Objects that would also be "worlds" once named) would round out the remaining larger objects. And the rest of the solar system would be made up of countless named and unnamed moons, comets, and asteroids.

New Language
This proposed nomenclature would allow us to use phrases such as "tomorrow morning all of the planets will be visible at the same time", "we've discovered a new world", and "Ceres is the only world in the asteroid belt" without the need to apply validations and exceptions. This grouping would make understanding the organization of our solar system simple and any new discovery would be easily cataloged with no argument or disagreement. Pluto and Charon are no more "dwarves" or "objects" than Mars and Earth. They deserve to be called "worlds".