(by 10 people)
Growing up, nearly everyone you know would say they learned that there are nine planets in our solar system. August 24th, 2006, scientists worldwide announce that they will downgrade Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet.
While scientists have called it "no big deal," the general Earth community seems to be shocked and disappointed. Learn the real issues here, and take a stand if you disagree.
News Items for "Downgrading Pluto"
- Chicago Tribune
- Pluto may fall from planetary heights
"From a purely scientific perspective, downgrading Pluto is no big deal..." - Redefinition of a Planet
- How did this come about?
- Reuters AlertNet
- Includes information about what a planet is and the new guidelines that will leave us with just eight planets.
- Planet Pluto on Wikipedia
- The Planet Pluto Wikipedia page was almost instantly updated to the new planetary status.
- Planet on Wikipedia
- ...as was Planet
- IAU Website
- The official International Astronomical Union, headquartered in Paris, France.
Say NO to Downgrading Pluto
A Planet Defined
The Oxford Desk Dictionary and Thesaurus defines planet as "celestial body moving in an elliptical orbit around a star." It defines Pluto as "outermost known planet of the solar system."The new official definition of a planet, which will not include Pluto, includes several stipulations:
-- The meeting agreed that to be called a planet, a celestial body must be in orbit around a star while not itself being a star.
-- It also must be large enough in mass for its own gravity to pull it into a nearly spherical shape and have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
-- The new definition -- the first time the IAU has tried to define scientifically what a planet is -- means a second category of planets called "dwarf planets", has been created. It also creates a third category known as trans-Neptunian objects.
-- There are now only eight classical planets, dwarf planets falling into a lesser category and are not considered classical planets along with Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Venus, Mars and Uranus.
What Problems does the New Definition Cause?
- The End of the Universe
- "New definition could add 53 more planets to our solar system..."
- Space.com
- Nine Planets Become 12 with Controversial New Definition
- Yahoo! Answers
- Uh oh...someone's not happy.
- GameDev.net
- What will the new definition mean to video gaming?
A New Mnemonic?
1. My very educated mother just showed us nine planets
2. My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas
Now we'll have to find another one, which could get quite tricky if 53 other spacial bodies really do qualify as planets under the new definition.
Reader Feedback
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LeslieBrenner
Our 9th planet is missing! Posted February 12, 2008 |
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dc64
So it's not a planet, but I still like pluto. I have always had a soft spot for the runt. Posted November 13, 2007 |
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MrLewisSmile
We love you pluto!! Posted November 30, 2006 |
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just_Dawn
Well, I like Pluto Posted September 06, 2006 |
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Jennie.Harris
I think this lensecool. But I agree with the side that Pluto isn't really a full planet, it's a dwarf. Having already classified similarly sized planets out there "dwarves" we had to come to the sad realization that just because the mnemonics sound nice, it doesn't make Pluta any bigger. Posted September 04, 2006 |
Is Pluto a Planet?
Those who are sad to see Pluto leave our definition of a planet have been very outspoken, but what does the rest of the world think?
