Pluto isn’t even the biggest non-planet
This whole Pluto business cracks me up. I really don’t give a fig what the damn thing is called, but every time someone finds out something new about Pluto that affects it’s status and what we call it, it makes the news.
I was listening to NPR on Thursday when it was mentioned on one of the hourly news summaries, then I started getting the press releases in my inbox.
For those living in an astronomical cave and don’t know what this refers to, Pluto is no longer called a planet by astronomers, rather it is a dwarf planet. And to make matters worse for Pluto, it isn’t event the biggest one, astronomers have measured the mass of Eris and found that it is 1.27 times the mass of Pluto.
BadAstronomy has a good post on how the mass was measured.
The one thing about this whole issue that really fogs my lens is when people start saying things like, ‘Well, no more Pluto.’
To these educationally challenged people I say this: Pluto hasn’t gone anywhere you idiot, it’s just not called a planet anymore. All we’ve changed is how astronomers classify it, it hasn’t physically changed in anyway whatsoever.
Being the contrarian that I am, I still call it a planet, mostly because I met Clyde Tombaugh, the guy who first observed it, and based on my impressions of him, I think he’d still call it one too.
Technorati Tags: clyde tombaugh, eros, pluto
Tony
You’re confirming my fears on what a silly idea it was to re-classify Pluto in the first place (I posted a couple of comments on the BA blog about it, under the login “omnologos”).
Since it is no “planet” any longer it goes off the radar of pretty much everybody not involved in astronomy and space stuff.
Is that because THEY are “educationally challenged” or because SOME PROFESSIONAL ASTRONOMERS are needlessly educationally-challenging the general public?
And I have even not yet started any discussion on how to be classified “dwarf” has become synonimous of a “demotion”…
People of short stature the world over will surely be pleased to hear how troglodyte-like are the views of the astronomical community!!!
Pluto is still my favorite Planet.
I don’t see why they wanted to stop “dwarf planets” from being full members in the planet club.
It probably would have even been good for astronomy and space in general.
Every time they found a new planet it would have made the news and alot of people would have wanted to learn more about it.
why do they really care if there would have been 20+ planets in our solar system?
BTW, I just found your blog and I’ve read the last couple of entry’s and from what I’ve seen its really good. Keep it up. I know I will be checking back daily.
What exactly is the point of taking away Pluto as planet? Maybe it’s part of some Orwellian obliteration of history.
Have these people (and by that I mean the professional bodies who made this decision) heard of diplomacy, or just plain tact. The decent thing to do would have been to define a “planet” as a body of a certain size orbiting with a certain perimeter of the sun.
Frankly I think they (apparently the IAU) have more than a little in common with the book burners in the American Library Association who tossed out everything written before 1970, except what they couldn’t get away with tossing out because the author was too well known.
Make these buffoons read Fleur Adcock’s “The Ex-Queen Among the Astronomers” before they make they make any more decisions matters which bear on heritage in addition to science.