Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Doug Haddix,Ashmore,Il — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 22:05:39 GMT

As far as I'm concerned,Pluto is a planet and that's final!

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Courtney Fulton, Maricopa, Arizona — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:59:40 GMT

Pluto IS a planet! It obits the sun, HELLO!

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Gerald Hastings, Lexington, Kentucky — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 02:29:21 GMT

Of course, Pluto is a planet. All the dwarf planets are planets. Are dwarf humans not classified as human? What is the difference.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Bill Smith ,Greensburg, PA — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 02:50:16 GMT

Why was Mercury not demoted also? It does not 'clear a path -the sun does that for it. It is approximately the same size as Pluto. Also Pluto has a moon which should make it a planet by definition.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Patrick Coyle — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 02:56:17 GMT

A planet by any other name still orbits the sun. It looks and sounds like an argument to determine status among astronomers.Taxonomic arguements are only useful if they lead to better understanding of the phenomenon that is being labeled. Does this definition expand our ability to describe our solar system? I think it needs more work.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

TheFallibleFiend, LORTON, VA — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 11:54:51 GMT

If we call Pluto a planet, why not Ceres? Why not all the rubble floating around with Ceres?

If we do call it a planet, we should consider it a binary system with Charon.

Pluto should not be considered a planet for two reasons:

1) its orbit takes it well outside the ecliptic, and
2) its orbit takes it inside the orbit of another planet.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Celtic Curmudgeon, Aberdeen, MD — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:44:13 GMT

Ah, the logic of it all!

Don't worry folks, soon enough you will be concerned with climate change, trying to get out of Iraq, a recession, electing a president with a measurable IQ and all manner of other problems.

May you have an interesting life!

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Ashleigh Keough-Paradis Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 13:17:47 GMT

I can't see whats the BIG DEAL Pluto is a planet. When It was discovered it was classified as a planet, now with the advancement of technology we can see beyond Pluto and discovered other "Planets" so to speak what if another 100 yrs down the road they find somrthing else much bigger than the 9 we know, whats going to become of us on Earth.....*sigh*

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Steve Langen, Phoenix, Az. — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 18:24:41 GMT

Not to mention that for all these years, we were taught about the solar system, and Pluto was part of that. Now books have to be changed, models in hobby stores have to be changed, teachings, tests, where does it end? What is next, that that a PB and J is not really a sandwich?

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Chris House, Twin Cities, MN — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:14:55 GMT

This is a silly debate; either we need to accept Pluto AND all of the other similar (or larger) sized Kuiper Belt Objects that will eventually be discovered as "Planets" - or just the major bodies of the solar system (possibly including Pluto and any new discoveries large enough to count).

Honestly I don't see a need to dub every roundish ball we discover as a "Planet", which would require constant revisions of too many reference materials and text books - as well as making any sort of "how many planets are there" sort of trivia questions completely irrelevant, as the answer may change from day to day, so nobody could expect to know the answer unless they had access to the "official" count of the day.

The only reason that many people want to "save Pluto" is because they've been brought up thinking of that little planet as the "Last Planet Found", and so almost on a desire for familiarity in these constantly changing days, they try to plant their foot down where it doesn't really make any sense to do so.

Sure, I agree that pluto is a planet or minor planet, but not a "Planet" - anything that is smaller than our own moon Luna shouldn't be considered a "Planet" in anybody's definition. Scientists normally categorize objects and discoveries in ways that seem to make the most sense, by grouping together objects that either share physical traits, historical relevance or some other logically derived set of groups; however on this planet naming debate, it's really come down to the rational scientists versus those who act as if you've stolen their "blankie".

Don't feel so hurt that Pluto won't be a "Planet" (a typmpani booms in the background), it's still a minor planet of some sort - and it was the first Kuiper Belt Object to be discovered, so it still does have a very major claim to fame the Plutophiles can fall back on.

As each new major or minor body is categorized, it should be placed into the _appropriate_ category, and not some preconceived notion of what category it is supposed to go in, simply because one was raised to believe that.

If we start dubbing as "Planets" each and every new KBO or sizable moon discovered, we're just taking the neat orderly piles and stirring it into a mishmash that even a professional cannot make heads or tails of.

I really think that "Planet" needs to be the classic ones, and possibly Pluto (or a new discovery worth using the title), but all of the new discoveries that we find so far out in the Kuiper Belt or on oddly inclined orbits that are not in the "warm zone" of the sun cannot compare. They do need to be added to the atlas of the solar system, but put them in their correct slot... tiny blobs way way WAY! out there compared to Earth's 1 AU orbit don't go in the same slot as we do.

These far out minor bodies will eventually be a great source of water, precious metals, industrial materials and other resources as humanity eventually begins to colonize the solar system and mine them. Despite being great sources of materials, these minor bodies also should not fit into the same category as Mars, a world that we will eventually colonize and terraform unless we kill ourselves off in the meantime.

So instead of wasting so much time fighting over something as silly as this, we could actually be convincing our President that, yes the People are worried about the environment more than Osama bin Laden... Osama is just a man, but we only have one Earth. If we kill it off before we get off it, what does it matter what we called Pluto.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Demote Pluto (Washington, DC) — Sat, 02 Sep 2006 02:37:10 GMT

Pluto is a large Kuiper Belt Object and nothing more. It is only a planet in the sense that it orbits the sun, but the difference between it and objects like it and the next smallest major Solar System body -- Mercury -- is vast enough to justify the demotion. The IAU's only fault in the new definition was in phrasing it badly, referring to a planet's dominant gravitational influence as "clearing its orbital neighborhood."

Let go of an astronomy which is controlled by stagnation and nostalgia. Admitting Pluto as a planet opens the floodgates to messier categorization and poor semantics. Relegating it to the position of planetoid means a simpler solar system, without disregarding its status as the first of the large KBOs discovered by a human.

These arguments that "Pluto is a planet because that's how I learned it," or worse, "Pluto is a planet and I'm not changing my mind" are simple appeals to sentimentality without scientific basis, and should be ignored. Otherwise we would still believe Ptolemy's geocentric model of the universe.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Andrew R. Martin Jr. — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 16:22:09 GMT

Pluto has been a planet since 1930, 76 years. The reasons for
the demotion for Pluto is just plain wrong. There are no good reasons, Pluto has a moon, and it does not matter if Pluto does not rotate in a perfect circle around the sun or not. Put Pluto back as a planet. This heavenly body or group of people, who demoted Pluto should not be give such power to demote a planet. Who gave them the power any way to demote our most loved far way plant Pluto. Let's wake up, this does not mean anything, we the people did not give them the power. The power lies in the people, so we will just make note of what they have said about Pluto, but it is not the law. Pluto is a full planet for 76 long years now. [...] Keeping Pluto a planet is the right answer!

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Leonard Cheloti, Nairobi,Kenya. — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 11:23:50 GMT

I believe science is guided by universal principles which dont just change like that.This may confuse us and our future generations since it now looks like the demotion of pluto was based on the changing definition of what a planet is.I hope the committee was not shifting goal posts and if the same will apply to other fields of science, then everything will change and there will be total confusion.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

John, Portland, org — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:46:43 GMT

Man, I can't beleive that we are even wasting our time on this. I would much rather the time and effort be spent on figuring out a better way into space. Let's face it, util we can go out and touch Pluto, it doesn't really mater what you call it.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Johnathan Doe, Seattle, Washington — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 06:23:45 GMT

now, now after so many years, we are excluding pluto from our solar system and trying to define what a planet is. it has an elliptical orbit, but then again i think we should keep it as a planet until further study. it's a pain to continue and argue, does t affect us that much?

well that's just a few thoughts, call it what you want and end this dilema

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

marcia gaines, campbellsville, kentucky — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 01:13:21 GMT

i don't think you should take pluto off!!! it is the last planet!!!! if you had a baby would you call it a dwarf human????

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Selwyn Clyde Alojipan, Quezon City, Philippines — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 04:15:26 GMT

Sentimentality and nostalgia is a very real and common human emotion but sometimes it goes too far, especially when it concerns scientific principles that need to be standardized. If you're not a scientist, then let the scientists do their work according to the rules of logic, reason, evidence, and practicality. So if the scientists say that Pluto was just the first of hundreds of small, icy, eccentric, extraplanar, comet-like, planetoidal bodies which will eventually be discovered, what's wrong with that? Demoting Pluto as the last of the planets and promoting it as the first of the Kuiper Belt objects is just the kind of thing scientists do all the time when new facts are discovered: they create new definitions, hypotheses, generalizations, and theories. If Pluto doesn't fit with the other eight planets and fits better with the multitude of comet-like objects in the outer reaches of the Solar System, then so be it. It also matters what whether we call it a planet, a planetoid, a minor planet, a dwarf planet, or Kuiper Belt Object because its definition and classification will affect the way it is indexed and arranged in the various databases and references that will be written from now on. That's the way of science. I guess people were also violently nostalgic when they thought Earth was at the center of the Universe and wanted to strangle Galileo (Copernicus was already dead then) when he pointed out that Earth was just one of the planets orbiting the Sun. So the answer to all the whiners and gripers who still wish that Pluto is the same as the other eight planets is: learn to live with it.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Peggy O. Touchstone; Downsville, LA — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 14:57:24 GMT

Here are my sentiments on the crazy decision recently made by a FEW for Pluto..........a friend informed me that Pluto was another Disney character not with Mickey....oh well, point made........leave Pluto alone!

PLUTO
Pluto, Pluto, my dear sweet little Pluto,
Tell me, tell me, oh where did you go?
I thought you were a little dog,
That Minnie and Mickey did share.
Now I hear you're no longer there!

Pluto, Pluto where doth thou now be?
Must be somewhere barking and using another's tree.
Pluto, Pluto, oh my dear sweet little Pluto,
Please, please come back to me!
peg touchstone 2006

on section RememberMe? Not clear what to me what is meant....it would be alright with me if you choose to put this little poem in your section.......it is a satire with our intellectual science crowd......would you not think that a FEW will enjoy the benefits of the $$$$ made by all the new publications of books that will now be needed????
me thinkist so !

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

sachin,pune,maharastra — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:13:16 GMT

good

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

N. Ferguson, Marietta, GA — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:42:41 GMT

If Pluto is NOT a planet, then the REALLY important question is: What little rhyme do we use to teach youngsters the planet names, now? Formerly, it was something like "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas"... or "My Very Excellent Mother Just Sewed Us New Pajamas". But what now? (And remember, you have to keep it clean... After all, this will be taught to kids!) I have a suggestion for all of us who grew up in the generation(s) with nine planets: My Very Early Memories Just Still Use Nine. :-)

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Dillon Cantrell,pittsburgh,pennsylivna — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 23:38:43 GMT

I think that pluto should be put back on the solar map because without it well it just seems like that the solar system is the solar system plus no one has been there so if it is a planet they will have a reason to try to get there and well pluto needs to be on the map it was discovered and foundated by a man who said it was and he wouldn't be happy if he knew that they were talking it off the map

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

cassidy smith ly ,wy — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 00:38:47 GMT

im am researching this topic in school i think that pluto is unique and should be a planet and besides even if its a dwarf planet it should and will be a planet hello DWARF PLANET THERES 'PLANET' IN THERE its not being addressed very good thanks

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Laurel Kornfeld — Wed, 02 May 2007 04:19:58 GMT

"If you're not a scientist, then let the scientists do their work according to the rules of logic, reason, evidence, and practicality. So if the scientists say that Pluto was just the first of hundreds of small, icy, eccentric, extraplanar, comet-like, planetoidal bodies which will eventually be discovered, what's wrong with that?... If Pluto doesn't fit with the other eight planets and fits better with the multitude of comet-like objects in the outer reaches of the Solar System, then so be it... guess people were also violently nostalgic when they thought Earth was at the center of the Universe and wanted to strangle Galileo (Copernicus was already dead then) when he pointed out that Earth was just one of the planets orbiting the Sun. So the answer to all the whiners and gripers who still wish that Pluto is the same as the other eight planets is: learn to live with it. "

First, the scientists did not make this decision using logic, reason, evidence, and practicality. They did it in a backroom deal motivated by egos and politics rather than a genuine quest for knowledge. Most of the four percent of the IAU members who voted on this are not even planetary scientists. If the scientists "do their work" based on unscientific criteria, members of the public as well as other scientists have every right to question it and to reject it.

Second, Pluto is not comet-like and is much bigger than most of the hundreds of small icy objects in the Kuiper Belt. No one has satisfactorily answered the question as to why an object the size of Pluto or Eris that has achieved hydrostatic equilibrium cannot be both a Kuiper Belt Object and a planet.

The issue of Pluto "not fitting with the other eight planets" is highly subjective. As we discover more KBOs and exoplanets, we likely will find out the term planet covers a far broader range of objects than the narrow definition the IAU adopted. Why does an object have to orbit on the same plane as the first eight in our solar system or "clear its orbit" to be considered a planet? These criteria are highly subjective and difficult to rationalize.

The comparison with Galileo is completely invalid. Galileo pointed out a clear fact that broke with tradition--namely, that the sun is the center of the solar system, and the Earth is one of several planets that orbit the sun rather than the center of everything. This is a cut and dry, clear distinction. In contrast, the IAU decision is not subjective, blurry, and not something that can be clearly proven. It depends on perspective (planetary scientists versus dynamicists) and values (how large must an object be to qualify as a planet? can an object be a planet if it has an eccentric orbit? etc., etc.). It's not a matter of "wishing" Pluto were still the same as the other eight planets. We know there are many different types of planets. That in no way tells us clearly that Pluto does not qualify as one of them. We should not "learn to live with" a sloppy decision rejected by some of the top planetary scientists in the world, made with ulterior motives, just because a tiny minority of IAU members have so decreed.

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

Amber Bass, douglas GA — Mon, 07 May 2007 20:24:19 GMT

I dont think that Pluto Should be counted off as a planet just because its small. Its a dwarf PLANET. DUH!!!! Its got the word PLANET in it dont it. I mean come on, its got to be a planet. Its just small, thats all. it shouldn't be accused like that!!! :)

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

rebecca, wellington, newzealand — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:53:35 GMT

i think that pluto should not ba demoted and that it is a planet i mean come on why did they call it a planet in the first place if its not huh? next thing they'll be tellig us is that jupiter is'nt a planet, just a big huge ball of gas

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

penny pisspott, popow, poland — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:42:52 GMT

please stop pattronising pluto, pluto is a planet. saying its not is pathetic. please pause picking on pluto. we think plutos pretty. predjustice pricks!!!!

penny pinching pisspots

Pluto gone? Not so fast!

kuala lumpur — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:36:18 GMT

i want look video about pluto