American Astronomers Fight Back
American astronomers are not taking the decision to downgrade Pluto from planetary status quietly. They are organizing a campaign to change the definition of a planet once again.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hundreds of U.S. scientists have challenged a recent decision by an international astronomy group to strip Pluto of its planetary status with a petition rejecting its definition of what constitutes a planet.
The astronomical insurrection shows that debate is likely to continue over the status of the icy rock at the edge of the solar system that was considered the ninth planet until a vote last week by the International Astronomical Union.
Petition organiser Alan Stern said the union's decision was driven by politics, not science.
"The IAU can say the sky is green all day long and that doesn't make it so," said Stern, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
"The IAU created a definition which is technically flawed, linguistically flawed and scientifically embarrassing," Stern said in a phone interview.
The 300 astronomers and planetary scientists who signed the petition said they would not use the IAU's definition. Dissenters are organising a conference next year to hash out a better definition, Stern said.
Pluto has been considered the ninth planet since it was discovered 1930. But the 2003 discovery of a nearby, larger body known as Xena prompted a reconsideration.
After rejecting a proposal to name Xena and two other bodies as planets, the IAU decided to downgrade Pluto and create a first-ever definition of what constitutes a planet.
According to the IAU, a body can be considered a planet if it orbits the Sun, is large enough to be made round by its own gravity, and has cleared the area around it of smaller cosmic objects. (Ed Note: Insert gratuitous Michael Moore joke of your choice here.)
That definition would exclude Earth and other planets that are pelted with asteroids, Stern said.
We here at Blue Crab Boulevard are glad to see that American scientists are not taking this lying down. We've been working on this problem in our own quiet way and propose sending a delegation of one to the next IAU convention. Developed by Magic 8-Ball Robotics and Bait Shop, Ltd. we proudly present the Pluonator 2000.
"Vote for me if you want to live"
