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Pluto, former planet, February 18 1930 - August 24 2006. Died by consensus in Prague, at the fine old age of 76.
Today, August 24, 2006, will forever be known as The Day That Pluto Died. (Much in the same way as August 21, 2006 will forever be known as The Day We Pay Royal Mail For Our Postage Changed.)
You were never much of a planet, but a planet you were, from the time you were spotted wandering across photographic plates, to 'til the votes were counted in Prague and your status reduced to that of "dwarf planet". Forever cold and icy, the first seeds of your demise were sown by the upstart object still officially titled 2003-UB313 (a catchy name if ever there was one), affectionately known as "Xena". How could you be a planet, they questioned, when there's something bigger than you out there that we can't call a planet yet?
You almost made it, but a final amendment calling for planets to clear all before their path cast you down, finally, to your new lowly status. Textbooks and web pages will be ripped up overnight, and only the curator of the New York Natural History Museum will rest easy, haven stricken you from his display long ago.
Pluto leaves a large family of Plutonians, who shall be a fitting memorial to their forbear.
No flowers.
It's a sad, but inevitable, decision that the IAU had to take. To continue to classify Pluto as a planet would've meant muddying the waters further, with even more object being so classified. I can't say I like the terms "classical planet" and "dwarf planet" - I'd prefer "major" and "minor" - but they serve their purpose. And of course Pluto will still live on as the progenitor of all Plutonians (some other scientific community objected to the term "Plutons" that was originally proposed).
In the end, though, the IAU have saved themselves a bigger headache than perhaps they realised: the classification of extra-solar planets. This also allows a neat, objective, justification for their decision, and indeed the new system of classification. Assume you are an observer in another solar system, looking closely at ours. You have a very powerful telescope, far more powerful than any that exist today on or in orbit around Earth. You can resolve almost any object in orbit around the Sun. How many planets would you count? If your answer isn't 8, pray tell why....
Today, August 24, 2006, will forever be known as The Day That Pluto Died. (Much in the same way as August 21, 2006 will forever be known as The Day We Pay Royal Mail For Our Postage Changed.)
You were never much of a planet, but a planet you were, from the time you were spotted wandering across photographic plates, to 'til the votes were counted in Prague and your status reduced to that of "dwarf planet". Forever cold and icy, the first seeds of your demise were sown by the upstart object still officially titled 2003-UB313 (a catchy name if ever there was one), affectionately known as "Xena". How could you be a planet, they questioned, when there's something bigger than you out there that we can't call a planet yet?
You almost made it, but a final amendment calling for planets to clear all before their path cast you down, finally, to your new lowly status. Textbooks and web pages will be ripped up overnight, and only the curator of the New York Natural History Museum will rest easy, haven stricken you from his display long ago.
Pluto leaves a large family of Plutonians, who shall be a fitting memorial to their forbear.
No flowers.
It's a sad, but inevitable, decision that the IAU had to take. To continue to classify Pluto as a planet would've meant muddying the waters further, with even more object being so classified. I can't say I like the terms "classical planet" and "dwarf planet" - I'd prefer "major" and "minor" - but they serve their purpose. And of course Pluto will still live on as the progenitor of all Plutonians (some other scientific community objected to the term "Plutons" that was originally proposed).
In the end, though, the IAU have saved themselves a bigger headache than perhaps they realised: the classification of extra-solar planets. This also allows a neat, objective, justification for their decision, and indeed the new system of classification. Assume you are an observer in another solar system, looking closely at ours. You have a very powerful telescope, far more powerful than any that exist today on or in orbit around Earth. You can resolve almost any object in orbit around the Sun. How many planets would you count? If your answer isn't 8, pray tell why....
