Members of the Planet Definition Commiss

Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC: Members of the Planet Definition Commission pose 16 August 2006 in Prague, including (UPPER L-LOWER R:) Dr. Andre Brahic, Professor at Universite Denis Diderot (Paris VII) and Director of the Laboratory Gamma-gravitation of the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique; Dr. Iwan Williams, Queen Mary University of London, an expert on the dynamics of Solar System objects;Dr. Junichi Watanabe, an Associate Professor and Director of the Outreach Division of NAOJ; Dr. Richard Binzel, Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science at MIT and a specialist in asteroids; Dr. Catherine Cesarsky, Director General of ESO and President-Elect of the IAU; Dava Sobel, author of the books Longitude, The Planets, and Galileo's Daughter; and Dr. Owen Gingerich, Professor of Astronomy and History of Science Emeritus at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Three new planets will be added to the solar system if astronomers meeting in the Czech capital approve a new planetary definition, the International Astronomical Union, conference organizer, said. The IAU conference will last until August 25. (Photo credit should read IAU/AFP via Getty Images)