You are Visitor Number Wednesday, January 20, 1999; 1:14 a.m. EST
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Poor Pluto -- its days as one of our solar system's nine major planets may be numbered.Two groups within the International Astronomical Union are thinking about reclassifying the relatively puny planet, either calling it a ``minor planet'' or lumping it in with an entirely new class of objects.
``For at least 20 years, it's been obvious that Pluto doesn't fit,'' said University of Maryland astronomer Mike A'Hearn, who heads the Planetary Systems Sciences Division of the International Astronomical Union.
With a diameter of only 1,440 miles, Pluto, the planet farthest from the sun, is smaller than Earth's moon. And while other ``major planets'' have roughly circular orbits, Pluto carves out a sweeping ellipse that frequently takes it closer than Neptune, planet No. 8, to the sun.
A'Hearn wants to create a new class of objects for ice balls that orbit beyond Neptune and call them Trans-Neptunian Objects. Pluto would be Trans-Neptunian Object No. 1.
Brian Marsden of the union's Minor Planet Center said he has a better idea. He'd like to see Pluto classified as a ``minor planet,'' of which there are thousands, then make it take a number. The prized number 10,000 will probably come up next month.
``It's not a demotion,'' for Pluto to be referred to as the 10,000th minor planet, Marsden insisted. ``It's an honor.''
New Mexico astronomer Alan Hale, co-discoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp, suggested the debate is somewhat silly since there's really no clear definition of what a planet is. And, besides, ``a hypothetical resident of Jupiter would probably laugh at our calling Earth a `major planet.'''
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
Friends,
Many of you who were not obscessing about the lack of ice on the Bellarmine sidewalks were probably as upset as me when you heard today's NPR announcement that Pluto may lose it's designation as a planet. Apparently, both the orbit and size of Pluto would demote it to being at best a minor planet. The head of the International Astronomical Union, Dr. Mike A'Hearn is largely responsible for this outrage. A picture of him can be found at http://www.ss.astro.umd.edu/IAU/comm15/busmtg/c15bmimg.html. His web page is at http://www.astro.umd.edu/~ma/. His e-mail address is mailto:ma@astro.umd.edu. It's possible that you might not feel the moral outrage that I do at this announcement until you consider that not only will our solar system have only eight planets, but also the outermost planet will now be a gas giant! In addition, Chron (Pluto's moon) would no longer be considered a moon, reducing our solar system's moon arsenal relative to our galactic neighbors. Why did we build the Hubble if not to get a closer view of Pluto? I suspect that, as the only plant not visited by a spacecraft, this is a NASA plot to avoid sending a probe to our favorite planet. Others are probably annoyed because, like Uranus, Pluto's equator is at almost right angles to the plane of its orbit (a feature I personally view as one of it's most attractive). Obviously, we cannot condone this sort of outrage.
Bill Tietjen
Comments:
From: Tegart, Dr. Doris
Real estate is everything! Give it to 'um!
First Pluto then what next?...I think the domino theory applies here.
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From: Bartsch, Carrie
Just think, in 100 years Pluto may be no more than a Trivial Pursuit question.
Carrie
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From: Zeman, Ann
Thank you for the interesting info. It would be strange to have only eight planets.
Ann Zeman
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From: Boyd, John
Does this mean that they'll have to rename Mickey Mouse's dog?
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From: Porta, Dr. David
That does it! My next child shall be named PLUTO! They can’t take that away from me!
This is a picture of Pluto from 3 billion miles (Images courtesy of Marc W. Buie/Lowell Observatory)
Here's a color photo of Pluto and Charon
And here we have a map of Pluto's surface (need I say more?)
This is what the phases of Pluto's moon (Charon) would look like if you
were on Pluto in 1988 (as I was) when the Sun crossed the equator.
The six-year season of eclipses were spectacular to watch.
