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New Horizons Spurs New Calls to Make Pluto a Planet Once Again

posted by janrinok on Sunday July 19 2015, @05:52AM   Printer-friendly
from the we-changed-the-rules,-we-can-change-them-back-again dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

After nearly a decade in the wilderness of celestial classification, Pluto is on the rise again. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) voted to adopt a new definition of what makes a body a planet, and to specifically demote Pluto to the status of dwarf planet. Now, with new data and images streaming in from New Horizons showing that Pluto is not only a little larger than previously thought, but also home to some remarkable geological features (including what may be some of the solar system's youngest mountain peaks, reaching to 11,000 ft/3,353 m high), many are saying it's time to restore the ninth planet to its previous station.

Perhaps not surprisingly, some of the most prominent advocates for Pluto are scientists working on the New Horizons mission, which reached the closest point of its long-awaited Pluto fly-by on July 14.

"We are free to call it a planet right now," Philip Metzger, a planetary scientist on the New Horizons mission, told DW.com. "Science is not decided by votes ... the planetary science community has never stopped calling bodies like Pluto 'planets'."

Really, isn't it time to re-classify Pluto as a dog?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 19 2015, @05:05PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 19 2015, @05:05PM (#211121)

    Knowing the names of Eris, Makemake, Haumea, Orcus, Quaoar, Ixion, and Varuna is not useful. Dozens more KBO/TNOs will be found. We wouldn't even know about Sedna if it wasn't close to its perihelion.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @02:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @02:02PM (#211420)

    And how is knowing the names of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto useful?

  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @09:36PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @09:36PM (#211596)

    But knowing Pluto's name would be useful? Do explain how, and be specific, pointing to several instances where knowing its and only its name would be useful, but none of the others would be useful to know in similar situations.