While in Shreveport, Louisiana also we stopped at the Science Center to stretch our legs in the gift shop. Friendly folks, but still a reminder of the unfortunate Pluto affair. About half of the solar system mobiles, puzzles, and games had the 9th planet and the other half--not so much. What's a space-loving youngster to think? Ironically, I was wearing my Vote For Pluto t-shirt... My allegiances are with the underdog.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Time to wrap up my discussion of Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum's book Unscientific America. In Part One I focused on the main themes of the book, arguing that it was superficial in its analysis of the issues and that its proposed solutions are impractical and unlikely to be effective. In…
Geez, it looks like our traffic stats are really taking a beating lately, so I am compelled to assume that this has something to do with the whole Pluto thing.
I mean this isn't too much of a stretch is it? Well, o.k. maybe it is.
Actually, the day it was announced, I ended up hanging out and…
What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet. -W. Shakespeare
After writing about the 80th Birthday of Pluto becoming a planet, I was asked about Pluto's planetary status, and whether I thought it deserves to be a planet or not. Let me just recap for you, very…
Did you ever notice that Pluto doesn't have much of a tail? No, not that Pluto! This Pluto:
This has been known for a while. NASA noted this last year:
New Horizons has discovered a region of cold, dense ionized gas tens of thousands of miles beyond Pluto -- the planet’s atmosphere being…
Tyson's book on Pluto is crackalackin
I think we may need a change of viewpoint here. After all, other parts of the solar system are dominated by absolute monarchs, who have ruthlessly devoured or enslaved anything near them. The Kuiper belt on the other hand has a president - after, isn't Pluto simply the first among equals? I think it was quite appropriate that it was discovered by an American.
In the words of Dr. Neal DeGrase Tyson on The Daily Show " Pluto should quit whining and just hang out with his own little friends".
Well, ok I am paraphrasing -but not by much! I say good riddance to bad rubbish. Suck on it Pluto.
Pluto's always a planet. Tyson can't redo the galaxy. Please....
Sheril, we're loving your road trip? Are you stopping in AZ?
You're right, and Tyson is wrong. Pluto is a planet because unlike most objects in the Kuiper Belt, it is large enough to have pulled itself into a round shape--a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium. When that happens, an object becomes geologically differentiated just like the larger planets and unlike inert, shapeless asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects. Tyson never addresses this crucial difference. As for the solar system products, support the ones that are keeping Pluto by purchasing only them. Many manufacturers continue to include Pluto knowing this debate is not over and that Pluto is both popular and still believed by many astronomers to be a planet.