Posted on 09/06/2006 6:50:44 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MADISON, WI (AP) -- At last, some good news for Pluto.
After being drummed out of the planet ranks last month, Pluto got a boost Tuesday night, as the [Madison] City Council approved a tongue-in-cheek resolution proclaiming it "Madison's ninth planet."
Alderman Kenneth Golden, who offered the resolution, said Pluto's demotion amounted to "massive discrimination."
"It really is offensive in the city of tolerance," he said.
His resolution said downgrading Pluto to "dwarf" status due to its small size and elliptical orbit showed a lack of tolerance toward diverse planets and those "pursuing different lifestyles."
It passed without a dissenting vote, although several council members abstained from voting.
The International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto last month. The group decided a planet must orbit the sun and be large enough to assume a nearly round shape, as well as "clear the neighborhood around its orbit." Pluto's oblong orbit overlaps Neptune's, which led the IAU to downsize the solar system to eight planets from the traditional nine.
But Pluto still has its defenders.
A group of them rallied Friday at the New Mexico State University campus in Las Cruces, where Pluto's discoverer, the late Clyde Tombaugh, founded the school's research astronomy department. Tombaugh was 24 when he discovered Pluto in 1930 while working at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.
I've always thought they were a little 'spacey' - this just provides concrete evidence! LOL!
The Fight for Pluto Rages On
Skytonight | September 1, 2006 | Editors of Sky & Telescope
Posted on 09/02/2006 5:47:21 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1694339/posts
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
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