Scientists: Pluto is no longer a planet.

[Toastburner B]

Check out the story here (http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/08/24/pluto.ap/index.html).

Also, beware of nerd humor:

"It could be argued that we are creating an umbrella called 'planet' under which the dwarf planets exist," she said, drawing laughter by waving a stuffed Pluto of Walt Disney fame beneath a real umbrella.

So...it turns out it was a good thing I never took astronomy...because it would of been lies.

[mauve]

Poor Pluto. EVERYTHING IT'S EVER KNOWN HAS BEEN A LIIIEEEEEE!!! It's gonna need sooo much counseling. But on the positive side, it's gone from being the dinkiest of the planets to being the king of the asteroids.

[Crodevillian Team]

This totally throws off the mnemonic and tosses my entire world into a whirlwind of confusion and melancholy. How many planets do we have now? What happened to the warrior princess?

[Nique]

"Better to rule in hell...?"

Also, this ruins a (very minor) portion of my beloved Star Trek continuity...

It's interesting, but a little strange... I mean, I guess my problem isn't with designating pulto as somthing other than a planet, so much as it is with a lack of general knowledge of what-the-heck-else is out there besides 9 (8) planets and a star. Let's see some moons and orbiting astroids on those Solar system mobile you make in 5th grade with paper-mache'...

[Archbio]

I mean, I guess my problem isn't with designating pulto as somthing other than a planet, so much as it is with a lack of general knowledge of what-the-heck-else is out there besides 9 (8) planets and a star.

I think that the problem was, as a matter of fact, that there are too many things out there. There's a definite possibility that with too broad a definition we'd end up with a solar system that'd make the one in Firefly look reasonable.

Besides how restrictive it is, I'm not sure I like the terms of this definition. Having a "dwarf planet" category for things which are described otherwise as "not being planets" feels very ackward.

[Sithdarth]

Poor Pluto. EVERYTHING IT'S EVER KNOWN HAS BEEN A LIIIEEEEEE!!! It's gonna need sooo much counseling. But on the positive side, it's gone from being the dinkiest of the planets to being the king of the asteroids.

Incorrect. There is a Keiper belt object quite a bit further out than Pluto that is also larger.They called it 2003 UB313. Not to mention they seem to be creating an entirely new classification for Pluto like bodies.

All in all, this as been quite the month for astronomy and astrophysics. First they find direct evidence of dark matter. Then they go and demote a planet. Man I am such a science geek.

[Solid Snake]

Personally, I'm glad they demoted Pluto. I was the kind of science dork who, in middle school, determined that Pluto really didn't deserve to be a planet then, and frankly what peeves me these days is that 60% of the population -- according to polls -- are actually pissed off at the scientists for making a totally objective desicion regarding whether Pluto deserved the classification or not.

I mean, here's the number one reason why most Americans are opposed to the empirically evident demotion of Pluto; because it wasn't what we were taught. Well, that's fine and dandy, right? Because science should always take a backseat to what we learned in our school classrooms, we'd never want progress to actually change the way we view our world.

What's next? After we discover a reasonable alternative to oil, will 60% of the American population go off and act all pissy because we were all taught to drive automobiles that consume gasoline?

[greed]

Umm yes..........
That's already kind of happening isn't it? "Hybrids are girls cars"
"Oil is bad for the environment and costs a shitload""Hey everybody let's go buy 4wds!"


Ontopic:Pluto wasn't meant to be a planet anyway was it, didn't they screw up the size or something and think it was like Mars sized at first and that's why it was a planet? And on it's demotion, it never really seemed like a planet from what I heard about it in the first place, so meh.

[Hatake Kakashi]

Of course, this will set off a rampant demand from the public school systems, demanding up-to-date Science books, costing governments even more money, which they will happily wrench from taxpayer's wallets... hooray for science. [/sarcasm]

Personally, I would've rather kept Pluto. So it was what I was taught... so what? It was always kind of interesting looking at that one little oddity we had amongst our 9/10/8 planets. Even so, I guess it had to be done.

[Myst Warrior]

Here's a more in-depth look at how it is affecting schools:

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/F1734B2C22FA5868862571D5001893C1?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22pluto%22

Basically, they want to replace the end of the pneumonic (pizzas) with nachos for some strange reason. It also says it isn't because of Pluto's size, but because of the fact it hasn't cleared it's orbit, like all good planets should. But that leads to the question of the fact Uranus hasn't cleared its orbit of Pluto at certain points, like when Pluto is closer to the sun than it is...

And I swear I didn't read this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5283956.stm) before I wrote my last statement.

[Whale Biologist]

Pluto and Xena are now Plutons... which is, according to the dictionary, an intrusive body of igneous rock protruding into different strata. NASA, however, only consulted The Microsoft Word Spellchecker before picking the word, and as such, proved that NASA isn't composed entirely of super-intelligent beings.

[Drax_reborn]

I am glad that Pluto is now no longer a 'planet' but a minor/dwarf planet. Mainly because there are things out there that could be considered planets but arn't using the same logical that classed Pluto a planet in the first case.

I had hoped that the dismissal of Sedna as the tenth planet would lead to this day. Besides Pluto is nothing more than a large Kuiper Belt object, just like Ceres is a large Asteroid belt object.

[Meister]

Somewhere, Douglas Adams is quietly smiling to himself.

[TheSpacePope]

But what the hell does it do to my star charts man,
And what about this U-2 planet Bono, or Xena, or whatever.
No wonder all my days are 5's!

[Roy_D_Mylote]

Somewhere, Douglas Adams is quietly smiling to himself.

Douglas Adams is fucking dead. Do you...do you really have to bring that up, and kick me in the balls? I mean, do you get pleasure in envoking such feelings of longing and sorrow 'pon my soul?

But yeah. It does kinda throw astrologists for a goddamn loop.

[Lockeownzj00]

Not really. Pseudoscience will always find a way to justify itself. In a recent metafilter thread, I witnessed a self-proclaimed astrologist/astrology advocate defend at length astrological systems without pluto, explaining that the general logic hasn't been broken, and all that.


So.

[TheSpacePope]

Thats why I love completely unverifiable science.
It's totally true.
Because it Is dammit!

[Long-Haired Narcissist]

I mean, here's the number one reason why most Americans are opposed to the empirically evident demotion of Pluto; because it wasn't what we were taught. Well, that's fine and dandy, right? Because science should always take a backseat to what we learned in our school classrooms, we'd never want progress to actually change the way we view our world.If people are pissed over irrelevent information (how many of those 60% are astronomers with a degree in the subject or use that fact in their career? My guess is none), then I have three words to say to the jackasses since I don't care one way or other.
De De Dee

[MetalPsycho]

Pluto gets no love. Now the God of the Underworld has no planet named after him!

Where's the justice, I ask you?!

Other than that...what was wrong with Pluto being a planet anyway? Were puppies burstin into flames on the street because the least important of all planetoids in the solar system just happened to be included with the other 8? Is Elvis finally going to stay dead now that the mess has been fixed?

[ElfLad]

By the same logic, I declare that the scientists who declared Pluto is no longer a planet are no longer scientists! Take that!

Truthiness:1; Logic: 6,894

We're gaining!

[greed]

So wait, the scientists aren't clearing their orbit?:D

This should be investigated!

[Deathosaurus Wrecks]

well the dumbest thing about this whole deal is: if we keep pluto as a full-fledged planet, that means we're gonna have to include an unspecified number of other space debris on the lists of planets orbiting Sol (they're still finding Xena and Pluto-sized objects out there). the argument has been, and has always been "do we have eight planets, or 10+?"

but no, we can't change what the textbooks say, heavens no. change is scary, and we don't like to be scared.

[CrazyBen]

Yes! I've been trying to get Pluto declared "Not A Planet" for years! Now, next on my list of obscure scientific things to fight for... Getting Sol declared a binary system, or converting the U.S. to the metric system. So hard to decide.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

The latter. It's more useful. And, you know, dealing with fact.

[ChaosMage]

Personally, I'm just happy there IS a definition. I don't believe the issue should be "Is Pluto a planet?" Its just covering up the main issue with some rediculous emotional attachment people have to Pluto. The issue should be is the definition relevant and sensical? But no one really seems to be willing to address the issue. There are brief mentions in the article above regarding how most of the accepted non-debated planets havn't cleared their orbits either (Earth, Uranus, Jupiter etc). But actual tackling of the issue is low.

[Nique]

It seems both sides of the issue have legitmate arguments. All that tells me, however, is that we don't have the capability to accuratly determine what is out there and how to define it. Whats considered "leftovers" and whats a fully formed planetary body?