2,5oo scientists met in prague and decided the fate of the furthest most member of our solar system. this planetary relegation is due, apparently, to the fact that pluto does not dominate it's orbit. instead it follows an eliptical trajectory that crosses the orbit of neptune. from this day on, in scientific circles at least, it will be referred to as a "dwarf planet". textbooks all across the globe will have to be changed to read "8 major planetary bodies".
is this any way to treat a planet that has been known since 1930. is it april 1st? all my life there have been 9 planets in our system. now the powers that be, want to change this, is nothing sacred? what will be next?
so what if asteroids bigger than pluto have been found?
maybe it's just nostalgia but in my book, once a planet, always a planet! on my continue to imagine light bouncing back off 9 planets.
Jason Kottke at kottke.org ran a mnemonic competition for the nine planets.
The entry that won the competition is:
My! Very educated morons just screwed up numerous planetariums.
my thoughts exactly. what about you?
