Posted 11/22/2010 05:40:00 PM by Douglas

I thought we put this one to bed in 2006. For the last time, Pluto is NOT a planet.

Now that Pluto may have regained its status as the largest object in the outer solar system, should astronomers consider giving it back another former title — that of full-fledged planet?

Pluto was demoted to a newly created category, "dwarf planet," in 2006, partly because of the discovery a year earlier of Eris, another icy body from Pluto's neighborhood. Eris was thought to be bigger than Pluto until Nov. 6, when astronomers got a chance to recalculate Eris' size.

Now it appears that Pluto reigns — though only by the slimmest of margins (the numbers are so close as to be nearly indistinguishable, when uncertainties are taken into account).

It's the only "planet" that has an orbit inclined over 10º to the ecliptic. It's also smaller than the moon. Keep Pluto OFF the planet list!

Labels: Pluto

Posted 2/21/2010 03:23:00 PM by Douglas

Happy Birthday, Pluto, but you're still not a planet.

Pluto was discovered 80 years ago today, and astronomers are still arguing over what it is.

The oddball world, downgraded from planet to dwarf planet status in 2006 and then later reclassified, is really out there. Scientists aren't sure exactly what Pluto's made of, how it formed, or why it orbits so oddly compared to the eight primary planets. And there are at least two camps of astronomers when it comes to defining Pluto. Some just think of it as a planet, others call it a dwarf planet or a plutoid.

Plutoid. What a great insult. Or possibly somthing akin to a hemorrhoid.

Labels: Pluto

Posted 1/11/2009 05:03:00 PM by Douglas

Once and for all, Pluto is NOT a planet. It never should have been a planet, so spare me the weepy-eyed fourth-grade science teacher that has to explain why her book is wrong. It was never right.

There’s an appeal to that argument. Most people would probably regard something intrinsically planet-y about Earth and think it odd that it would not be regarded as a planet if it were stuck out by Pluto (since it probably would not clear out all the debris out there).

Now that's just stupid. It's not that it's so far away from the sun that makes it a non-planet. Its size (it's smaller than Jupiter's four biggest moons) and its orbit looks like the path of a drunken frat boy on his way home from the bar compared to the other eight "real" planets (why do you have to get closer to the sun than Neptune for some of your orbit, huh, Pluto? And why is your orbit plane tilted 27º from the plane of the ecliptic, where the other, "real" planets like to orbit?)

There's just not a compelling case to include the Pluto/Charon system in with the other eight planets. Face it, the Solar System is an Oxygen atom, not fluorine. Can't the scientific do-gooders sleep better with the notion of our celestial existence riding around on a life-sustaining Oxygen atom, as opposed to corrosive and toxic fluorine atom?

Labels: Pluto

Posted 6/15/2008 02:43:00 PM by Douglas

Pluto is still not a planet.

It is the new classification that has been sanctioned for the object that was formerly known as the "ninth planet".

It is nearly two years since the International Astronomical Union (IAU) stripped Pluto of its former status as a "proper" planet.

Now an IAU committee, meeting in Oslo, has suggested that small, nearly spherical objects orbiting beyond Neptune should carry the "plutoid" tag.

As with most things in the universe, it's not just about size: It's about the motion.

Labels: Pluto

Posted 8/24/2006 05:23:00 PM by Douglas

A great victory for the blog and scientist everywhere today as Pluto is stripped of its planetary status.

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is -- and isn't -- a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one.

So long, Pluto, it's been fun. I'm sure someone, somewhere, will say that this lost of territory in the solar system is George Bush's fault.

Labels: Pluto

Posted 8/23/2006 05:30:00 PM by Douglas

Are there any sweeter words in the universe?

“I think that today can go down as the ‘day we lost Pluto,’ ” said Jay Pasachoff of Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., in an e-mail message from Prague.

Good riddance and good news, but it will never happen. Too many 3rd graders will have damaged self-esteem. Pluto will survive, but the other three floating turds won't make it in the catalog. Which is ironic, since some of those other ass-teroids up for planetary status are actually larger than Pluto.

Under fire from other astronomers and the public, a committee appointed by the International Astronomical Union revised and then revised again a definition proposed last week that would have expanded the number of official planets to 12, locking in Pluto as well as the newly discovered Xena in the outer solar system, as well as the asteroid Ceres and Pluto’s moon Charon.

The new definition offered yesterday would set up a three-tiered classification scheme with eight “planets”; a group of “dwarf planets” that would include Pluto, Ceres, Xena and many other icy balls in the outer solar system; and thousands of “smaller solar system bodies,” like comets and asteroids.

Once again, there are only eight planets. If these eggheads want to create another subset of planets called "dwarf" planets, why not just go all out and call them "fake" planets? And if they do, then our Moon is now a planet. A fake planet.

Labels: Pluto

Posted 8/16/2006 05:23:00 PM by Douglas

There are eight planets in our solar system, ok? Pluto doesn't even come close. So it's a joke to think that we're going to upgrade Pluto's "moon" Charon to planet status. We should downgrade Pluto to "orbital turd" status. Yet, some do-gooding nerdlingers think otherwise.

As part of its decision, the panel also affirmed that Pluto, its planetary status under increasing fire in recent years, should remain a member of the club.

If approved, the new additions would be: Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt that orbits the sun between Mars and Jupiter; Charon, once considered Pluto's moon but now described as its companion in a "double planet" system; and 2003 UB313, an as-yet-unnamed, larger-than-Pluto object far beyond the orbit of all the other planets.

Bah. What a joke. Here's why there are, and will only be, eight planets in our solar system:

• The four inner, or Terrestrial planets and the four outer, or Jovian planets all share common traits that are not common to Pluto and her bastard sister, Charon.
• The other eight planets share the same orbital plane. Pluto's orbit is tilted 17º above the plane of the ecliptic.
• Pluto's orbit is so eccentric, it's actually closer to the sun than the last real planet, Neptune, for some of its orbit.
• Pluto is only two thirds the size of our moon. Is the moon a planet, with a wacky, spirographic orbit?
• I just made up the word spirographic

The universe needs order. If we can't classify like planets together in a logical manner, then chaos will rule the day, there will be no order in the galaxy, the Sith will take over and anything orbiting the sun larger than a Folger's can will receive planetary status. I stand firmly athwart this planetary madness shouting "There are but eight planets!!!!

Labels: Pluto

Posted 8/14/2006 05:37:00 PM by Douglas

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Pluto is not a planet

Some 3,000 astronomers and scientists from around the world will meet in Prague this week to decide whether Pluto, discovered in 1930, measures up to the definition of a planet.

In defining for the first time what exactly a planet is, the International Astronomers Union (IAU) may be forced to downgrade Pluto's status, or add as many as 14 others.

Such a decision would send shockwaves through the scientific community, instantly outdate textbooks, and cause educators to re-teach the basics of our solar system.

Shockwaves? No. Ripples? Maybe. Look, other than idiots like me, no one cares if pluto is striped of its planet status. But for the record, it's not a planet.

Labels: Pluto