Bye Bye Pluto
OK, this has nothing to do with LEGO, or Bionicle, so if you're bored with "space" stuff, go ahead and cruise on by.
We lost a planet today. It wasn't a big one, but it has three moons, so you'd think it'd be hard to misplace.
The International Astronomical Union today passed a new resolution that defines what a "planet" is. It was tumultuous, apparently - it even came close to the "gray vs. bley" furor in the AFOL world from a couple of years ago. Yes, it was that big. So, instead of having 9 planets, our solar system now has eight - Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto is now a "Trans-Neptune Object" (TNO), along with Xena and some other weird worlds.
Think of all the poor school kids who'll have to change what they know, or thought they knew. And think of the sadistic fun science teachers can have now.
"Johnny, how many planets are in our solar system? Remember, we talked about this last year just before summer break."
"Gee, you told us that! It's nine planets!"
"WRONG! You're to stay after class and erase the chalkboard with your tongue for not reading CNN!"
"Waaaaah! But I'm only six years old!"
To give you an idea of how old I am, I remember taking high school science, and the big buzz back then was they had just discovered a moon around Pluto: Charon. That was pretty cool. Now, they've decided Pluto isn't a planet anymore.
All those mnemonics are going to have to be re-thought. No more, "Most Very Energetic Martians Just Swim Using No Pools," or "My Very Efficient Metal Jaguar Sometimes Uses No Petrol." I can just see the contests to come up with new ones. (And no, I can't think of any right now.)
At least they haven't messed with, "Oh, Be a Fine Girl, Kiss Me Right Now Sweetheart."
And if you don't know just what the heck I'm talking about, you need to take an astronomy class. Especially if you think "Pluto" is a Disney character. "Yeah, right, Bink. Look, there's Planet Donald, rising past Mickey Moon! Nyuk nyuk nyuk."
Although I understand why the IAU made the choice they did, it's still kind of a sad day.
So long, Pluto. We hardly knew ye.
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