Pluto *is* a planet, dammit.

Not a ‘dwarf planet.’ It was a planet when I was born, it’s a planet now, and it’ll be a planet after I’m dead. I don’t care what the International Astronomical Union has to say about it.

And get off my lawn!

Moe Lane

PS: Sign the petition!\

PPS: No, the Yuggoth
thing has nothing to do with it. Really. Honest. Not a thing.

PPPS: Via Fark Geek.

5 thoughts on “Pluto *is* a planet, dammit.”

  1. Pingback: Moe Lane » Pluto *is* a planet, dammit. | planets
  2. Pingback: The Term Nowadays… | Little Miss Attila

  4. You’re absolutely right; Pluto IS a planet.

    Only four percent of the IAU voted on the demotion, most of whom are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately rejected by hundreds of professional astronomers in a petition led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto.

    The IAU definition makes no linguistic sense, as it states that dwarf planets are not planets at all. That’s like saying a grizzly bear is not a bear. Second, it defines objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. If Earth were placed in Pluto’s orbit, by the IAU definition, it would not be a planet. That is because the further away an object is from its parent star, the more difficulty it will have in clearing its orbit.

    A second reason the IAU definition makes no sense is that it defines objects solely by where they are while ignoring what they are. If Earth were in Pluto’s orbit, according to the IAU definition, it would not be a planet either. A definition that takes the same object and makes it a planet in one location and not a planet in another is essentially useless. These reasons are why many scientists and lay people are working behind the scenes to get the demotion overturned. This debate is far from over.

    Many planetary scientists prefer a broader planet definition that encompasses any non-self-luminous spheroidal body orbiting a star. That gives our solar system 13 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. The last four are both planets and Kuiper Belt Objects.

    Oh, and I signed this petition three years ago. 🙂

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