TARGET 150715

IT’S OFFICIAL...
SIZE DOESN’T MATTER.

I love Pluto

Well, size doesn’t matter for some people, at least when it comes to planets. And, if a small dog is still a dog and a small person is still a person, then why wouldn’t a small planet still be a planet?

But in 2006, a very small clique of Pluto-haters within the International Astronomical Union (IAU) took Pluto’s status as our ninth planet away from it and demoted it to a "dwarf planet". Of the approximately 10,000 internationally registered members of the IAU, only 237 voted in favor of the resolution while 157 voted against; the other 9,500 members were not present at the closing session of the IAU General Assembly in Prague, so were not given the chance to vote. Yet Pluto’s official planetary status was snatched away. In the public’s eyes, more damage was done that day to the IAU’s reputation than Pluto’s.

The problem was that Pluto was not deemed a planet because it didn’t meet one of the requirements for the IAU’s definition of what a planet is: It is round. It orbits the sun, but it was decided that this far distant object did not have enough gravity to "clear the neighborhood around its orbit". Because of that supposed exception, it was demoted. The problem was that Pluto is in the Kuyper Belt, which consists of thousands of rocks and debris, none of which is clearly visible to even our most accurate telescopes.

But on July 14, 2015, the New Horizons space probe began sending back detailed pictures of Pluto, showing craters. Clearly, the planet’s gravity is enough to draw in surrounding debris. So, on that day, in Alamogordo, New Mexico, at the Clyde Tombaugh IMAX theater, it was officially declared a planet again by Alamogordo's mayor, Susie Galea. It isn’t a ruling by the IAU, but at this point, who cares?

The entrance

The entrance has a very large globe of the Earth, as well as other displays from the New Mexico Msueum of Space History, just up the mountainside. To the right, you can see a video of Clyde Tombaugh, the descoverer of Pluto, explaining the astronomical methods that led to Pluto’s descovery.

Pluto is our planet

One of the classes from Space Camp had just let out and the hallway was suddenly filled with students, each carrying signs they had made after studying Pluto and the New Horizons spacecraft. They had even made a model of it, themselves. (Child’s face pixelated because I did not get a chance to ask permission from her parent for the use of her picture.)

Inside the theater    The NASA briefing

People began filing into the IMAX theater chamber, where NASA’s real-time coverage on the New Horizons space probe was being shown.

The mayor of Alamogordo, New Mexico, Susie Galea, entered and read an official proclamation to the Space Camp students, astronomers, and general public present - with many "whereas-es" and "therefores" - that, no matter what the IAU or anyone else may say, if you are anywhere within the city limits of Alamogordo, New Mexico, PLUTO IS A PLANET!!!

The roar of approval from those present

With Mayor Galea’s proclamation, the crowd went wild, students waving their signs, people cheering and applauding, and then everyone began chanting, "PLUTO!! PLUTO!! PLUTO!! PLUTO!!".

So, there, IAU. The sun shines very weakly on the PLANET Pluto, but you may need to file your decision somewhere where it doesn’t shine, at all. (I'm speaking of deep under a landfill, of course.)

FEEDBACK MAP

Feedback map

If you got impressions for which this feedback is insufficient, more information,
pictures and videos can be found at the following web sites:

The New Horizons web site
The Guardian: New Horizons shows Pluto is larger than expected.
NASA: What is Pluto?
Clyde Tombaugh’s story.
New Mexico Space Academy in Alamogordo, NM