Senate of Illinois re-instates Pluto as full planet

[Syt]

Discover: Illinois Tries to Sell Pluto Full Planet Status (Or Just Give It Away)

Pluto - Fresh off voting to remove its ethically questionable and impeccably coiffed governor from office, the Illinois senate has moved on to more important matters: making Pluto a full planet again.

In addition to overruling the International Astronomical Union (IAU)'s demotion of the planet (at least within the state), the unanimously-approved bill also designated March 13, 2009 as "Pluto Day," since Illinois' own Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on that date in 1930.

Pluto was downgraded to a dwarf planet in 2006, because it didn't meet the requirement that a planet clear the area around it of debris due to its gravity. Ever since the IAU's diss, many people—including astronomers, other state legislators, and ordinary citizens—have criticized the organization's definition of a planet, which was formulated by only 424 of 2,412 IAU astronomers. The IAU subsequently decided to show Pluto some love by classifying it and all dwarf planets beyond Neptune's orbit as "plutoids."

Stay tuned on Discovermagazine.com for a recap of an astronomy roundtable that included Mike Brown, whose discovery of Eris (a dwarf planet larger than Pluto) delivered Pluto's planetary death blow.

[vinraith]

Why are people complete retards about this? Pluto is one of quite a few similarly sized objects out in the Kuiper Belt. If it's a planet, so are the others. Since we keep discovering more of these things, and quite a few of them are larger than Pluto, trying to make Pluto a "full planet" is ultimately going to result in elementary school students having to memorize 300 "planets." 8 real ones, and 292 little frozen rocks.

[Ed Anger]

This guy,http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/tor/881177993.html, agrees.

yeah, I'm not learning the additional commands to fix that link.

[Syt]

yeah, I'm not learning the additional commands to fix that link.

That's ok; we are glad that elderly folks like you use the net at all.

[The Brain]

Is katmai a planet?

[fhdz]

Is katmai a planet?

You're thinking of Unicron.  Katmai sounds nothing like Orson Welles.

[Neil]

If it's a planet, so are the others.

Now that's where you're wrong.  There's no reason that Pluto can't be 'grandfathered in', apart from consistency.  It would be nice to have a single rule, but since the difference between 'planets' and 'not-planets' is only relevant from a PR standpoint it wouldn't be a big deal to let it slide.  After all, I doubt we'll have the ability to detect extrasolar plutoids in any reasonable timeframe, so the difference really isn't that important.

Then again, American legislative bodies really shouldn't be allowed to determine anything scientific, as they have a tendency to be devastatingly stupid.

[Josquius]

I thought Illinois was one of the good states

[Neil]

I thought Illinois was one of the good states

What made you think that?

[Josquius]

I thought Illinois was one of the good states

What made you think that?

Blue.
They drink and screw.
Illinois is the state I've probally met the most people from.
Annoying accent though.

[MadImmortalMan]

Nice to know our wise state leaders are working on the important issues of the day, and not wasting their(our) time on trivial nonsense.

[FunkMonk]

I thought Illinois was one of the good states

Nice people but they tend to elect asshats.

[Evil Spock]

It sure is funny how state/provincial and municipal governments have time to grandstand about such friviolities. Vancouver's ultra-leftist city government is busy crusading about water bottles lately.

[garbon]

Nice to know our wise state leaders are working on the important issues of the day, and not wasting their(our) time on trivial nonsense.

I'd rather see them do that, then cause real mischief.

[Neil]

It sure is funny how state/provincial and municipal governments have time to grandstand about such friviolities. Vancouver's ultra-leftist city government is busy crusading about water bottles lately.

Or Alberta's weird and wacky attempts to regulate smoking.

And Jos:  Illinois is a stupid state, full of criminals.  Just because their politics are closer to your own retarded brand doesn't make them good.