THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Altitude: 10 feet below sea level
Founded January 1970
2021-2022: LXXXIII
"We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it in themselves." -Galileo Galilei, who, if we were still alive, would be celebrating his 458th birthday today!
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Tuesday, February 15, 2022
The Pluto Responses
Heavens!
Yesterday's article about Pluto's possible planetary reinstatement elicited some responses from subscribers, all of which were in equal measure thoughtful and passionate. Evidently, the ardor many of us feel about Pluto's unjust demotion has scarcely abated in the fifteen plus years since the IAU dragged the poor planet to the chopping block. Today's article, which was originally going to pertain to my insightful theory about how to finally reconcile quantum physics with General Relativity, will instead focus on these responses and my responses to these responses. I'm not sure what I'll do if the responses to the responses elicit other responses. However we'll quantum tunnel through that bridge when we come to it, Werner. I apologize to those whose responses I didn't include. Please don't infer from their exclusion that I consider them invalid or not worthy of note. Space constraints necessitated these exclusions.
We must start with input from that wonderful and quintessential Pluto defender, LK, who writes a brilliant Pluto blog and has been a subscriber for some years. In response to my line:
"The IAU General Assembly is convening its next meeting this August in Korea. Will Pluto's planetary status be then reinstated?"
LK writes:
Statements like this assume that only the IAU has the right to bestow planet status on an object. This is essentially an appeal to authority. The IAU planet definition should not in any way be privileged above other definitions currently in use, such as the geophysical definition. I have long suggested planetary scientists form their own organization and adopt their own definition of planet. We do not need the IAU to issue a decree or stamp of approval for Pluto to be considered a planet. Unfortunately, the media has portrayed the IAU decision as fact rather than as what it really is--one side in an ongoing debate.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Indeed! That line does presuppose that the IAU stands as the final authority on all such matters. We know that most planetary scientists have ignored the IAU's designation, a fact little mentioned by most media sources. I stand cheerfully corrected.
LK concluded with:
Pluto was never "dead." Mike Brown has made it his personal agenda to brand himself as Pluto's "killer" in an effort to pursue money and fame. Pluto is not only geologically alive; it is also alive as a planet to most planetary scientists, amateur astronomers, and members of the public.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Again, very true. Pluto is alive in every possible sense, except, perhaps, metabolically. Your passion and that of countless other Pluto advocates attest to its aliveness in the minds of so many scientists and members of the general public.
As for Mike Brown's motivations, well, I am afraid I cannot know one way or the other. However, if he is desirous of money and fame, why doesn't he just write a daily astronomy article from the confines of a small, subterranean planetarium?
MP, another long time DA subscriber and ardent Pluto champion, stated
Pluto lives and so may all those other hundred and forty or so other planets, However, can they still be planets if they are actually moons revolving around other planets?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sure, why not?
There are such objects as double planets. In fact, some astronomers wanted to designate Pluto and Charon as a "double planet." Of course, that designation was based on Charon's large size relative to Pluto and the fact that both worlds revolve around a common barycenter that is external to both. However, if one altered the definition of planet to include all geologically active bodies, then we could have planets in orbit around other planets. This example perfectly illustrates how we craft the definitions ourselves and then categorize the celestial bodies accordingly.
And, finally, HG, a new subscriber, said,
Hooray! Let's bring Pluto back and beg for his/her forgiveness. By the way, how did Clyde Tombaugh respond when Pluto was demoted?
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well, Pluto would have to possess a saint-like nature to forgive such an insult, but here's hoping. Also, Clyde Tombaugh was deceased by the time the IAU voted on Pluto's demotion in 2006.
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the Daily Astronomer: