Terra Nostra (novel) Terra Nostra (novel) Terra Nostra is a 1975 novel by the Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. The narrative covers 20 centuries of European and American culture, and prominently features the construction of El Escorial by Philip II. The title is Latin for "Our earth". The novel received the Xavier Villaurrutia Award in 1976 and the Rómulo Gallegos Prize in 1977. "Terra Nostra", perhaps Fuentes' most ambitious novel, is a "massive, Byzantine work" that tells the story of all Hispanic civilization. Modeled on James Joyce's "Finnegans Wake", "Terra Nostra" shifts unpredictably between the sixteenth century and the twentieth, seeking the roots of
Minor planet asteroids. A minor planet seen releasing gas may be dually classified as a comet. Objects are called dwarf planets if their self-gravity is sufficient to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium and form an ellipsoidal shape. All other minor planets and comets are called "small Solar System bodies". The IAU stated that the term "minor planet" may still be used, but the term "small Solar System body" will be preferred. However, for purposes of numbering and naming, the traditional distinction between minor planet and comet is still used. Hundreds of thousands of minor planets have been discovered within the Solar System and thousands