Fight for Pluto !, A Campaign to Reverse the Unjust Demotion |
Fight for Pluto !, A Campaign to Reverse the Unjust Demotion |
Aug 24 2006, 08:24 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: 19-March 05 From: Princeton, NJ, USA Member No.: 212 |
Dear Friends,
Today I am extremely dissapointed that the Pluto Demoters have triumphed. I respect their opinion, but disagree with it. I strongly agree with Alan Stern's statement calling it "absurd" that only 424 astronomers were allowed to vote, out of some 10,000 professional astronomers around the globe. This tiny group is clearly not at all representative by mathematics alone. I believe we should formulate a plan to overturn this unjust decision and return Pluto to full planetary status, and as the first member of a third catagory of planets, Xena being number two. Thus a total of 10 Planets in our Solar System Please respond if you agree that Pluto should be restored as a planet. ken Ken Kremer Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton Program Chairman |
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Guest_Sedna_* |
Sep 14 2006, 10:48 PM
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#2
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Guests |
Even when discovered, it was doubted that Pluto was really a planet. Then, it was considered so "de facto". Now IAU's Assembly has corrected this historical mistake. Why did 90% of the delegates leave the Assembly before it had finished? It's their business... Pluto is NOT a planet. In addition, I think that Alan Stern's and company reaction is quite puerile...
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Sep 15 2006, 04:41 AM
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#3
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Even when discovered, it was doubted that Pluto was really a planet. Then, it was considered so "de facto". When Mercury was discovered, it was doubted that it was a single object instead of two. Then it became a planet de facto. Before the invention of the telescope, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars were lumped into a single category with Jupiter and Saturn... de facto, despite the gross difference in nature of these worlds. Now IAU's Assembly has corrected this historical mistake. If there has been a year with more fumbling of the issue than 2006, I'd like to know when. The current definition puts Mercury (comes within 0.25 AU of Venus) in a group with Jupiter (29 times its size) instead of with Pluto (comes at closest within 11 AU of Uranus and not even that close to Neptune; half Mercury's size). And it creates a definition such that if we find two Mars- (or Neptune-!) sized objects in similar orbits, they will neither be considered planets -- but be called "dwarf" planets despite their size. It's their business... Pluto is NOT a planet. In addition, I think that Alan Stern's and company reaction is quite puerile... The IAU is running into the buzzsaw of a community much larger than their few hundred and the lack of a mandate to tell people what "planet" should mean. Mind you, I think the odds of a non-foolish outcome are long, but this vote hasn't settled anything except that the IAU is good fodder for comedians. |
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