Pluto is a planet again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

Oh Pluto, we have missed you. You have been treated so callously.
But , now....welcome back!

Just goes to show you how capricious all that science stuff can be...

The debate renewed in October over the fate of the once-planet Pluto.

Pluto, which was discovered in 1930 by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, was demoted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to dwarf planet status in 2006. The IAU now considers the solar system to consist of eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics held a debate in September about whether Pluto should be a planet. Voters listened to three scientists who presented various views in a debate and decided that Pluto is indeed a planet.

For the record, the IAU still lists Pluto as a dwarf planet.

Five Science Breakthroughs in 2014
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/five-science-breakthroughs-2014/39348591

The dwarf planet Pluto is recognised as an important prototype of a new class of Trans-Neptunian Objects. The IAU has put given a new denomination for these objects: plutoids.
http://www.iau.org/public/themes/pluto/

[NV Whino]

1. Yay!

It was so callous to demote Pluto. Personally, I've always considered it the ninth planet. The hell with those scientist. What do they know anyway.

[starroute]

21. H.P. Lovecraft wasn't that thrilled with it

From "The Whisperer in the Darkness":

When I left Brattleboro I resolved never to go back to Vermont, and I feel quite certain I shall keep my resolution. Those wild hills are surely the outpost of a frightful cosmic race–as I doubt all the less since reading that a new ninth planet has been glimpsed beyond Neptune, just as those influences had said it would be glimpsed. Astronomers, with a hideous appropriateness they little suspect, have named this thing “Pluto.” I feel, beyond question, that it is nothing less than nighted Yuggoth–and I shiver when I try to figure out the real reason why its monstrous denizens wish it to be known in this way at this especial time. I vainly try to assure myself that these daemoniac creatures are not gradually leading up to some new policy hurtful to the earth and its normal inhabitants.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

40. Merry Christmas to you too!!!

[pinboy3niner]

2. Oh, blow it out Uranus!

My God, it seems like only yesterday we buried Pluto! How can these astronomers toy with our emotions so cruelly?

[Rowdyboy]

79. Now thats seriously funny! My vote for post of the day.....

[Baclava]

3. sorry, no it isn't - 'Pluto...recognised as of a new class of Trans-Neptunian Objects'

Dwarf Planets, plutoids and the Solar System today

The IAU Resolution means that the Solar System officially consists of eight planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

A new distinct class of objects called dwarf planets was also decided on. It was agreed that planets and dwarf planets are two distinct classes of objects. The first members of the dwarf planet category are Ceres, Pluto and Eris.

http://www.iau.org/public/themes/pluto/

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. Yes it is.

May be a "dwarf" planet, but still...a planet!

and not nice to discriminate against dwarves, either.

[Baclava]

38. I'm not gonna be the one to tell you Santa isn't real

nope, not me

[dixiegrrrrl]

42. Waaaaaaaaaaa!!!

hiccup......

[Baclava]

46. there, there......how about a nice sugar plum

that's better

[dixiegrrrrl]

51. Hic......well, ok......sniffle.....

I get 2, then....'just because...


CHOMP...

[Katashi_itto]

76. Santa isn't real?

@.@

[Baclava]

105. shhhhh...He knows if you're awake

or so I've heard

[brush]

109. Yes, we should call it a "little planet" not a dwarf. nt

[1monster]

45. Oh, we wanted to name the planets, and now we've named them all...

And, according to Blue (who is an expert on many subjects), Pluto is a Planet!!!

[nomorenomore08]

93. Yeah, if Pluto is a full-fledged planet, then what do we call the larger Eris?

In that case our solar system would consist of 10 planets. Fine by me.

[Silent3]

4. Perhaps the definition of planet can be extended to have an "honorary" category. n/t

[Brother Buzz]

5. My very easy method just speeds up naming planets

"My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas", and I can now retire "My vegan Earth Mother Just Served Us Nothing".

[CTyankee]

7. "Mary's violet eyes make Jack stay up nights perhaps."

That's my mnemonic.

[ThoughtCriminal]

10. My Very Elegant Mother Just Sat Upon Nine Porcupines

Once you visualize, you never forget it.

[tabasco]

89. My very eager mother just served us nine pizzas

[Fozzledick]

100. Mother Very Easily Made A Jam Sandwich Using No Peanuts, Mayonnaise or Glue

Including the asteroid belt and anticipating the discovery of the next two trans-Plutonian planets Mickey and Goofy.

[Brother Buzz]

112. That's good!

[Brother Buzz]

14. My dog has fleas

[eggplant]

17. "perhaps not." n/t

[ColesCountyDem]

53. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles. n/t

[Tree-Hugger]

113. That's the one I learned. nt

[LiberalElite]

56. I learned this in fifth grade:

"Mickey Mouse Visits Pluto Every Saturday Night Under Junk"

[Brother Buzz]

62. My subject line was a mnemonic and nobody picked up on it

[LiberalElite]

69. Too cleverly disguised

as a sentence that made sense, IMO. What I learned in 5th grade makes no sense.

[dixiegrrrrl]

71. drats, you are correct..I missed it too. Very clever of you.

Here...have a sugar plum.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026000547#post46

[Brother Buzz]

73. I'm holding out for a fruitcake

I'll be checking Freecycle® on Boxing Day, there's always a veritable cornucopia of free offers. I love fruitcake.

[hugo_from_TN]

6. Uhh, no

Did you even read what you pasted?

For the record, the IAU still lists Pluto as a dwarf planet.

[JaneyVee]

11. DWARFS ARE PLANETS TOO DAMMIT!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

34. Of course I read it......

and the last word in your 2nd sentence is ................?

[Reter]

85. A dwarf planet is not a planet

Doesn't matter if the word "planet" is in there. Dwarf planets are their own classification.

Now, do I agree with this? No. That idiot with the mustache on "The Universe" is to blame for this. Forget his name, but he's controversial...

[snooper2]

8. not really, it just doesn't, measure up..

LOL

[hifiguy]

9. Seems appropriate.

Nine planets, nine symphonies each by Beethoven, Dvorak, Mahler, Bruckner and Vaughan Williams. Apropos of absolutely nothing.

[Je me souviens]

28. Apropos of nothing...

Except being a kinda cool factoid!

One far too cool to Google and confirm.

/solecisms intentional

[nomorenomore08]

95. "Number 9, number 9..."

IT WAS THE GODDAMN ILLUMINATI ALL ALONG I KNEW IT!!!!1!1!!

[hifiguy]

97. FNORD!!

[KansDem]

12. Yay, Pluto!

[dixiegrrrrl]

35. Oh thank god, you get it....

( some very serious people around on this day of days, aren't there?... )

[GummyBearz]

13. Back in my day we had 9 planets!

I had an embarrassing moment a couple years ago when I was visiting home, and my cousin's 6th grade kid was working on some school project that was a poster board of the solar system.

I asked why he only had 8 planets and I looked like an idiot for not remembering the whole Pluto tragedy. He opened his science book and proved me wrong, and all I could resort to was "back in my day we had 9 planets!"

[pinboy3niner]

16. We're ancient

Next they'll be telling us the world isn't flat.

[dixiegrrrrl]

54. Yeah....and watch out for this planet erasing guy.....he is too clever by half.

[Brigid]

57. You mean to tell me . . .

All this was his fault?

[dixiegrrrrl]

58. Actually, yes....

Here, a cute article about it, with a marvelous letter from a 6 year old to him.

He read out one angry letter from a child which reads, “What do you call Pluto if it is not a planet anymore?
If you make it a planet again then all the science books will be right.
Do people live on Pluto? If there are people who live there they won’t exist …
Please write back, but not in cursive because I can’t read in cursive.”

http://pagesix.com/2014/06/19/neil-degrasse-tyson-gets-hate-mail-about-pluto/

[Brigid]

94. Hee hee.

Apparently he got letters like that from adults too.

[Diclotican]

55. GummyBearz

GummyBearz

I know the feeling - when my oldest nephew was 12 he did the same thing with me - showed me that Pluto was not a planet anymore - I feeled like I was a dinosaurus then - as I have forgotten all about the debacle about Pluto's demise from planethood... And to be honest - I think he believed Ia was a dinosaurs - as he did many times when he was young.. Now that boy is soon to be grown up... And a new part of his life is starting

And I have to say I laughted out when I read your description about it all - it was like experienced it all again

Diclotican

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. That's Mister Pluto to you!

[rogerashton]

18. Like Porky Pig, Pluto is

sui generis.

[dixiegrrrrl]

36. Well played.....

[baldguy]

19. Pluto will always be a planet in my eyes.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

33. HTH....

[dixiegrrrrl]

37. LOL!!!!!!!!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

20. NO HE IS NOT! He's a character in Animal House!

You know, guzzles beer like a fish, uses the whirled as his urinal, and has a grate GPA.

[csziggy]

64. I thought that was Bluto?

[ChairmanAgnostic]

74. Same size AND shape.

[Kennah]

107. That's Senator Blutarsky!

[Android3.14]

22. Not yet, if in our lifetimes or ever

A random vote of random people attending a single debate on the classification of an astronomical object has impact on the debate, but little impact on the classification.

Pluto is not a planet, but still a special class of objects.

[jimlup]

23. I hate to dampen the celebration but...

In my opinion the IAU made the right call. The current definition of "planet" versus "drawf planet" better describes the Solar System. We have a cultural attachment to Pluto simply because we learned about it in Elementary School but it is no more a planet than Eris which is actually larger and several other Kuiper belt objects as well as many other probably still undiscovered.

[jtuck004]

24. Some of us never stopped believing in you, Pluto. n/t.

[L0oniX]

115. They are forming a POG right now ...Plutocratic Oligarch Group.

[jtuck004]

122. I don't care if it just puts out hot air, I'm gonna defend it to the end.

A lap dog for Pluto, one might say.

[WillyT]

25. Ruh Roh...

[Odin2005]

26. I'm sorry, calling Pluto a major planet is just stupid.

[dixiegrrrrl]

39. Who calls it a major planet?????

[Kennah]

106. It is the very model of a modern major plantetoid!

[dixiegrrrrl]

108. I see what you did there....

[chknltl]

27. Does size matter or does size not matter?

Hey, i'm no expert, just the average guy..., so how n the hell am i supposed to know!

[MillennialDem]

61. It's less the size and more about orbit clearing AND the fact that if we call

Pluto a planet, we should call Ceres a planet. Ok so we have 10 planets and we have to teach everyone there is a planet between Mars and Jupiter

That and we should also call Eris and Sedna planets and a few other objects. Eventually we'll have 10,000 planets. Do we really want to subject people to memorizing more planets than the population of some suburban towns?

[bluesbassman]

29. They prefer to be called Little Planets.

[csziggy]

68. I think they should be called Petite Planets - it's more alliterative

Pluto is a petite planet - see?

Plus petite sounds so precious.

[dixiegrrrrl]

72. Much better than the phrase they came up with: plutoid.

which sounds like a swelling on the ass of astrology.

[Kennah]

104. Not to mention it's Pluto centric view of the universe

[valerief]

30. He'll always be a dog to me. nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

32. There are LOTS of dwarf planets in the solar system...

There's no 'shame' in Pluto joining their ranks.

[BlueJazz]

41. I think it should have never been changed being that it was such a big part of astronomical history.

The other sub-planets were discovered WAY after Pluto....plus it's rather "in bad taste" to demote something that was so honored for so long. Clyde Tombaugh deserved better than that.

[Hubert Flottz]

43. What a wonderfull holiday gift!

I loved Pluto. My grandpa had a fine hunting dog named Pluto and so I've been a lifelong Pluto fan!

I never doubted for a minute, that Pluto was a planet!

[dixiegrrrrl]

44. Merry Christmas!

I thought it was fine gift, too, even tho *somebody* upthread was trying to spread discord by saying there is no Santa Claus.

[eridani]

49. There is a Zen parable for that

First there is a Santa Claus.
Then there is no Santa Claus.
Then there is.

[dixiegrrrrl]

52. Schrödinger's planet, then.

[belzabubba333]

47. a rocky body formed wih this solar system wouldnt be out past the gas giants

[Igel]

48. This was argued here a while back.

An unofficial vote by some people who happened to be at a conference didn't change anything. The matter, IIRC, will be reconsidered.

And it will fail.

A "dwarf planet" is not the same as a "planet."

Any more than a "vice-president" is the same as a "president" or a "cold war" is "war." It's a compound with its own lexically-specified meaning, puerile word games are an embarrassment. Even more so 3 months late.

Personally, I'd rather Pluto not be counted as a fully-fledged planet. Let it orbit proud among the serried ranks of Trans-Neptunian Objects, a variety of Kuiper Belt Object, rather than be usurped and out-ranked by the likes of Eris.

[rock]

50. Oh yeah! Well the scientists said I was wrong about the tomato

How do I know that isn't happening again? What if Pluto like the tomato turns out to be a fruit?

[Rowdyboy]

59. For many of us it never changed. Finally, the rest of you guys are catching up!

[MillennialDem]

66. Why don't we call all of these (and 10,000 others) planets?

[Xolodno]

70. You know...maybe we should.

Think it may be high time to start at least a rudimentary class system. Instead of just kicking the can down the road, categorize by level of atmosphere, proximity, size, etc. Discerning them between planet vs. dwarf planet is just putting one's head into the sand.

[Rowdyboy]

78. Because thats not what my 6th grade teacher, Mrs. McBride, said in 1966....

which was about the last time I understood much of anything in a science class.

Also "My very elegant mother just served us nine pizzas" is firmly embedded in my head which is somewhat thick and extremely resistant to change. I have absolutely no problem with you or anyone else having as many or as few planets as you choose-for me, there were, are and always will be nine.

[MillennialDem]

80. I had 6th grade in 1992 and MVEMJSUNP was drilled into my head too - but you really

can't have 10,000 planets to memorize. And we short changed Ceres for way too long on that count too.

[Ryan Fitzomething]

60. Misleading Headline

My hopes raised, then dashed!

[MillennialDem]

63. It's not a planet unless Ceres, Eris, and Sedna are also planets.

[olddots]

65. so what about Goofy ?

And Scoobi ?

[longship]

67. The IAU opinion is all that matters.

So officially, Pluto is a dwarf planet and will likely remain so. It is also a Plutoid, a pretty neat name, if you ask me.

Again, officially. That means in astronomical papers.

People can call Pluto a sponge planet if they want to and it won't make a difference to the official nomenclature, which is set by the IAU, not by a non-scientific educated or literate public. And yes, there are astronomers who disagree. However, it is what it is.

Sorry, folks.

And I hope everybody has a wonderful holiday.

[Maedhros]

75. Why is this so important to people?

Despite its designation, Pluto hasn't changed.

[L0oniX]

116. We want you to vote Plutocratic anyway.

[MFM008]

77. Pluto was voted out

by about 200 scientists out of over 700( most of whom were not told about the meeting). Pluto originally met the criteria for a planet. I understand the next meeting of this body is next year, where it was expected to regain its planet hood, thanks to information gathered by a passing satellite.

[Cha]

81. It never stopped being a Planet for me.. glad they're catching up. :)

[Posteritatis]

82. I've always been struck by how worked up people get over this (nt)

[paleotn]

83. I hate neat little boxes.....

....My 3.5 cents on this whole "planet" thing....the universe doesn't fit in our arrogant little anthropogenic cubby holes. There's a whole spectrum of planetary objects...some bigger than others, some smaller. What constitutes a "planet" is arbitrary human silliness and is meaningless in the grand scheme. For example, comets and asteroids it turns out have no clean cut differentiation. Some have more ice than others, some less...some are just bits of rock and /or metal...a whole spectrum of objects of various consistencies and sizes. For some reason I just bristle at our nice and neat little boxes we insist on stuffing the natural world into.

[sendero]

84. For Astrologers...

.. it never stopped being a planet

[Posteritatis]

92. I liked when a few of them tried suing the IAU or NASA(?!) over the redefinition..

...morons believed that "Pluto is no longer a planet" meant that the ebil scientists destroyed it or something.

[B Calm]

86. I thought Pluto was a dog in Walt Disney cartoons.

[First Speaker]

87. Pluto is a breath mint!

...no, no...Pluto is a candy mint...no, breath mint...*sigh* I'll get it straight one of these decades...

[tabasco]

88. I met Dr. Tombaugh at New Mexico State University

I met a man who DISCOVERED A PLANET again!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

90. Those first discoverer's get all the headlines

but who, I ask you, stops to think of the ones who discover something again???

It just ain't fair.

Harrumph.

[Bucky]

91. Sorry, but fuck you, Pluto. You're not big enough to be a planet.

The IAU says you're a dwarf planet, a "plutoid", which is Latin for "whiny little frozen-ass pipsqueak." GTFO, loser !!

[dixiegrrrrl]

101. Stop picking on him!

You're gonna give him self esteem issues.
Jeez, he has had it hard enough already....having to wait way out there in orbit till someone discovered him, after all the other kids got recognition,
and now to be told he doesn't measure up because of his size.
You're gonna warp him for life, I tell ya!

[roamer65]

96. New Horizons will tell us a lot in July.

It will be interesting what it reveals about Pluto and Chiron.

[TheKentuckian]

98. This was in my understanding the status quo. The "demotion" was to this type of object from planet.

I am crazy divided on it myself. My heart says "Planet, I sez" and drops the mike.

My brain says "if Pluto is a planet then so are some others and possibly we will be "discovering" planets for a while yet as we better map the Kiper belt and maybe an asteroid or two and stray shit beyond what most think of as the solar system but still is certainly in the sun's entourage. That sounds like trouble".

The heart probably would win, what does it hurt to account for a few more objects of a certain size that independently orbit the sun? Seems almost like laziness, what could go wrong expanding basic knowledge a little bit?

[shenmue]

99. Poor Pluto, they always pick on him

Big planets are jerks.

[LiberalEsto]

102. Couldn't Goofy be a planet too?

Fair is fair.

[MrMickeysMom]

103. Number 9… number 9…. number 9… number 9….

[dixiegrrrrl]

110. Exactly!!!!

Merry Christmas.....

[MrMickeysMom]

120. And, to you, too, dixiegrrrrl!

Merry Christmas

[True Blue Door]

111. It was never a planet by any self-consistent and meaningful standard.

Either we have 8 or we have (likely) thousands, most of them irrelevant little iceballs orbiting eccentrically. There's no 9-planet solution.

[L0oniX]

114. I hear they have a Plutocracy form of government there ...just like we do.

The parties are divided though ...there's the Plutocratic and the Replutocratic. Replutocrats are a bunch of idiots and the Plutocratics are mostly centristic

[ladyVet]

117. I'm so happy!

I always loved how Pluto acted so happy and playful around Micky Mouse and Goofy...

What? Really.

Never mind, then.

[Hubert Flottz]

118. Can't afford a planet of your own?

Check these out I collect them and they are beauties.

https://www.facebook.com/JaboVitro

Still made in the USA!

[Quantess]

119. Scorpios get half of their glory back!

Pluto is Scorpio's planet and nobody elses!
That's where scorpios hide when they get sick of sharing Mars with Aries.

[dixiegrrrrl]

121. Exactly!!!!

Which is why I am so happy it is back, even if "they" decided to minimize it.
Puts all our Scorpio world back in place, doesn't it?

( Mr. Dixie is an Aries...can you imagine how much fun that is??)