It’s official…

Pluto is not a planet any more. Apparently, size does matter.

About time, too. Pluto lacks the basic characteristics of the other planets–or, at least, it looks a whole lot more like a bunch of other debris orbiting around beyond Neptune.

People have always gotten Pluto wrong since the get-go. When i was in grade school, I remember a mechanical model of the solar system we had in my science class, with a light bulb for the sun and little metal balls for all the planets. They were all linked together and geared so that the planets whirled around the sun when you spun the whole gizmo.

Problem was, it showed Pluto’s orbit as circular and in the same plane as the other planets. Even at eight years old, I knew that was wrong. Later, when I was in high school, I successfully trapped my science teacher by asking him to name the planets in order from the sun. He recited the familiar liturgy–Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. However, Pluto’s highly erratic orbit takes it inside that of Neptune; at the time, it went Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto, Neptune.

And now, finally, saner heads have prevailed and the world’s astronomers have decided that Pluto is not a planet after all. Which is good; allowing Pluto as a planet would mean allowing a half-dozen other rocky bodies–or more!–as planets, too.

The only real question left, at this point, is the most important one: how will this news affect the box office receipts for Snakes on a Plane?

56 thoughts on “It’s official…

  1. “Which is good; allowing Pluto as a planet would mean allowing a half-dozen other rocky bodies–or more!–as planets, too.”

    Why did I suddenly fear this becoming a great political brouhaha? “They tossed Pluto out? How dare they be so elitist! Exclusionary! This is a big enough Solar System that we can include Pluto, and those other planets too! Down with sizism!” and “They tossed Pluto out? Good! We don’t want those tiny planet wannabes in – if we did, we’d have to start including asteroids, and then meteoroids, and who knows where it’d stop.”

    . . but then, the first geology course I took in college had a “Reunite Gondwanaland!” poster, thereby introducing me to political-radical Science. . .

  2. “Which is good; allowing Pluto as a planet would mean allowing a half-dozen other rocky bodies–or more!–as planets, too.”

    Why did I suddenly fear this becoming a great political brouhaha? “They tossed Pluto out? How dare they be so elitist! Exclusionary! This is a big enough Solar System that we can include Pluto, and those other planets too! Down with sizism!” and “They tossed Pluto out? Good! We don’t want those tiny planet wannabes in – if we did, we’d have to start including asteroids, and then meteoroids, and who knows where it’d stop.”

    . . but then, the first geology course I took in college had a “Reunite Gondwanaland!” poster, thereby introducing me to political-radical Science. . .

  3. Well, from my understanding of the new rules, Pluto will be a “dwarf planet”. Ceres and Charon and “Xena” would fall under that classification too.

    The problem is that the word “planet” has such cultural history. Most of the planets have been know for at least a thousand years. Attempting to create a binding defintion for something that has as many possibilities as planet formation affords is a fool’s errand. It was something that needed to be done though. The debate over Pluto’s status is basically a disraction to better uses of astronomer’s time.

    • Attempting to create a binding defintion for something that has as many possibilities as planet formation affords is a fool’s errand.
      I disagree. Since you’re dealing with science, I think that it’s important to have clear definitions of the categories that are used to classify phenomena, and cultural inertia be damned.

      • I was referring more to the problems with the vast panoply of things that fall into the “planet” categories. Previous to this decision, planets were a “we’ll know it when we see it” sort of thing. The current defintion of planet covers things ranging from Mercury to Jupiter. There are even odder things out there.

        I suppose that cultural inertia is something that science always has to go against.

    • I’m curious: would you prefer to leave as planets those sun-orbiting bodies visible before the telescope? That would leave Pluto and the other rocks in the cosmic dust.

  4. Well, from my understanding of the new rules, Pluto will be a “dwarf planet”. Ceres and Charon and “Xena” would fall under that classification too.

    The problem is that the word “planet” has such cultural history. Most of the planets have been know for at least a thousand years. Attempting to create a binding defintion for something that has as many possibilities as planet formation affords is a fool’s errand. It was something that needed to be done though. The debate over Pluto’s status is basically a disraction to better uses of astronomer’s time.

    • Am I the only person on the planet who actually learned it as “Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto”? It didn’t even occur to me that there might be a memory tool like that until I ran across one less than a month ago.

      ‘Course, I was only taught ten colors, and most of them were shades of grey. I guess growing up on an asteroid gulag results in skewed educational priorities.

    • Astrologers the world over don’t seem to have noticed…they’re too busy writing about how (get this) interest in Net porn is because Pluto is in Sagittarius. God bless their irrational little hearts.

      And on a related note, I recently had someone on a mailing list tell me that she was qualified to make reasonable assessments of the efficacy of alternative madicine on the grounds that she is a Scorpio and Scorpio is the “most scientific” sign of the Zodiak. 🙂

      Nothing, though, can possibly beat the astrologer who sued NASA for ‘ruining the natural balance of forces in the universe’ after the NASA Deep Impact probe made its rendezvous with comet Tempel-1…

      • Hmm. And I thought the interest in net porn was due to faster connection rates. Who knew?

        I wonder how I can start getting people to take me more seriously by using the fact that I am a capricorn and a dragon.

        I would rather sue NASA for the fact that the wasted a shit ton of taxpayer money by drilling a $125 million orbiter into the face of Mars. That at least makes sense. “Hey guys there’s two sets o’ numbers on this here tape measure. Which do you think we should use?”

      • ROFLMAO

        *wipes tears from eyes*

        Seriously, *eveyone* knows that the most scientific sign of the Zodiac is… um… shit, I’ve got twelve to choose from… uh… OK, mine! Gemini!
        /snark

        I haven’t talked to my rabid-astrologer mother (a Scorpio, BTW, and one of the most irrational people on the planet) about this. I’m debating if I even want to go there…

        However, thanks for the link and the laughs

  5. Am I the only person on the planet who actually learned it as “Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto”? It didn’t even occur to me that there might be a memory tool like that until I ran across one less than a month ago.

    ‘Course, I was only taught ten colors, and most of them were shades of grey. I guess growing up on an asteroid gulag results in skewed educational priorities.

  6. Attempting to create a binding defintion for something that has as many possibilities as planet formation affords is a fool’s errand.
    I disagree. Since you’re dealing with science, I think that it’s important to have clear definitions of the categories that are used to classify phenomena, and cultural inertia be damned.

  7. Astrologers the world over don’t seem to have noticed…they’re too busy writing about how (get this) interest in Net porn is because Pluto is in Sagittarius. God bless their irrational little hearts.

    And on a related note, I recently had someone on a mailing list tell me that she was qualified to make reasonable assessments of the efficacy of alternative madicine on the grounds that she is a Scorpio and Scorpio is the “most scientific” sign of the Zodiak. 🙂

    Nothing, though, can possibly beat the astrologer who sued NASA for ‘ruining the natural balance of forces in the universe’ after the NASA Deep Impact probe made its rendezvous with comet Tempel-1…

  8. Hmm. And I thought the interest in net porn was due to faster connection rates. Who knew?

    I wonder how I can start getting people to take me more seriously by using the fact that I am a capricorn and a dragon.

    I would rather sue NASA for the fact that the wasted a shit ton of taxpayer money by drilling a $125 million orbiter into the face of Mars. That at least makes sense. “Hey guys there’s two sets o’ numbers on this here tape measure. Which do you think we should use?”

  9. Hmm.. I was taught “My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pies”.

    And actually.. it really didn’t work all that well for me. I learned as as Mercury, Venus.. etc. And when I wanted to remember the pie thing today, I had to recite the planets to remember the pneumatic device. 😀

  10. I’m curious: would you prefer to leave as planets those sun-orbiting bodies visible before the telescope? That would leave Pluto and the other rocks in the cosmic dust.

  11. I was referring more to the problems with the vast panoply of things that fall into the “planet” categories. Previous to this decision, planets were a “we’ll know it when we see it” sort of thing. The current defintion of planet covers things ranging from Mercury to Jupiter. There are even odder things out there.

    I suppose that cultural inertia is something that science always has to go against.

  12. ROFLMAO

    *wipes tears from eyes*

    Seriously, *eveyone* knows that the most scientific sign of the Zodiac is… um… shit, I’ve got twelve to choose from… uh… OK, mine! Gemini!
    /snark

    I haven’t talked to my rabid-astrologer mother (a Scorpio, BTW, and one of the most irrational people on the planet) about this. I’m debating if I even want to go there…

    However, thanks for the link and the laughs

  13. If we continue the convoluted Kaaren-speak from the other day…

    are you implying that there is a plot afoot to ruin the sales of Snakes by nullifying Pluto’s planetary status????

    egad!
    *runs to check horoscope and planetary alignments*

  14. If we continue the convoluted Kaaren-speak from the other day…

    are you implying that there is a plot afoot to ruin the sales of Snakes by nullifying Pluto’s planetary status????

    egad!
    *runs to check horoscope and planetary alignments*

  15. The only real question left, at this point, is the most important one: how will this news affect the box office receipts for Snakes on a Plane?

    The sequal will be “Snakes in an International Astronomical Union meeting?”

  16. The only real question left, at this point, is the most important one: how will this news affect the box office receipts for Snakes on a Plane?

    The sequal will be “Snakes in an International Astronomical Union meeting?”

      • Apparantly so. Personally, I feel that if it’s orbiting the sun it’s a planet. If it’s orbiting a planet, it’s a moon. Course then we’ve got a crapload of planets and moons out there, including Haley’s comet (planet) and the International Space Station (moon).

  17. Apparantly so. Personally, I feel that if it’s orbiting the sun it’s a planet. If it’s orbiting a planet, it’s a moon. Course then we’ve got a crapload of planets and moons out there, including Haley’s comet (planet) and the International Space Station (moon).

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