Pluto gets the boot

And I think I’m okay with it. See, the more we learn about our solar system, the more Pluto seems to blend in with the rest of the outer solar system objects. Out there, in the far reaches of this arrangement of masses that is home to our own Earth, there’s a bunch of small, icy bodies hanging around.

Most people know of the asteroid belt that separates us (and Mercury, Venus and Mars) from the gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune but the Kuiper belt is less known. I don’t know much about it either, but I do know that it contains a lot of small asteroids and things and it lies just beyond the orbit of Neptune. Pluto passes through this belt while on the outer part of it’s very oblong orbit.

The International Astronomical Union is in the middle of huge convention in Prague, Czech Republic. One of the main tasks of this convention is creating a specific definition for planets. So basically, 2500 astronomers representing about 75 countries sat around and debated what makes up a planet and as a result, Pluto is out.

It’s time now to throw out those little mnemonic devices for remembering all the NINE planets of the solar system because that number just became EIGHT: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

So far there are no plans to send rockets out to Pluto and blow the bastard clean out of our solar system. No, what happened today is more of demotion, like that time when I a bus boy and a few times I washed dishes. Get it?

Instead of planet status, Pluto will be “reclassified” into a new category of “dwarf planets” but don’t worry, Pluto gets some homeys.

Joining her is the largest of Pluto’s three moons, Charon. But that’s not all, folks. Also now in this sub-planet category is an asteroid called Ceres located in the asteroid belt that was considered a planet in the 1800s until it was demoted. (See Pluto? It’s not so bad after all. Ceres is still around today). Rounding out the “dwarf planet crew” is the furthest known object in the solar system – which happens to be bigger than Pluto – 2003 UB313. The man who discovered UB313 has dubbed her “Xena” but as of yet there is no official naming.

Neptune becomes the furthest “real” planet in the solar system. I like it… because Neptune is my favorite planet. I’m not sure why, didn’t all kids have a favorite planet growing up? I did. My preference, I think, is based of those pictures that are colored by humans based on what we believe is the chemical makeup of the body. It appears this cool blue color, and then it has the Great Dark Spot. I’m sure it’s great for vacationing.


PS – Neptune is actually further from the Sun than Pluto for a while due to Pluto’s wacky orbit. Neptune has 13 known moons and is about the size of 58 Earths.