The new IAU definition reclassifies Pluto (illustrated above with its largest moon, Charon, as seen from one of its newly-discovered smaller moons) as a "dwarf planet", a decision that has raised the hackles of many in the astronomical community and the general public. (credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI))
Pluto will always(in my book) be the ninth planet in our solar system.
In other news: millions of idiots will still read tomorrow's horoscope.
This reminds me of nothing so much as the removal of St. Christopher from the canon merely because there is absolutely no historical basis to believe any such person ever lived. Fussy, fussy, fussy. At least Pluto exists. So he ate meat on Friday, once, for Cripe's sake. Is that any reason to decanonize him, if he asks for forgiveness?
I figure all those Soviet era artists employed airbrushing out Trotsky and other "non-persons" can find work airbrushing Pluto out of old text books and encyclopedias.
There are millions of kids simply heartbroken over Pluto. I personally know several who cry themselves to sleep every night over Pluto's fate. Evidently, the people in the IAU are heartless and they probably want to take away school lunches and strip the elderly of their social security. How could they do this to an innocent, defenseless planet? John Kerry would NEVER let this happen. If he was to run again on a platform based on restoring Pluto to its rightful place of honor in our solar system, he would win in a landslide.
Planetary Politics: Protecting Pluto
Space dot com | 7 September 2006 | Edna DeVore
Posted on 09/09/2006 11:17:25 AM EDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1698389/posts
