Pluto demoted

UPDATE: Hesiod, over at Daily Kos, shares Pluto's concession speech. And you can find more Pluto designs here.

And I thought I was having a rough week. From the comments, Demetrius posted:

Astronomers say Pluto is not a planet

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.
...
Much-maligned Pluto doesn't make the grade under the new rules for a planet: "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

Pluto is automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit overlaps with Neptune's.

Instead, it will be reclassified in a new category of "dwarf planets," similar to what long have been termed "minor planets." The definition also lays out a third class of lesser objects that orbit the sun -- "small solar system bodies," a term that will apply to numerous asteroids, comets and other natural satellites.

Demetrius added, "However, Pluto has filed paperwork to run as an "Independent Planet" in the Solar System for Pluto Party..."

So I thought I'd take a shot at a bumper sticker.

jc, your turn...

On an unrelated note, listener pointed out this article: Republicans battle the blogs

Tags: pluto, planet, astronomy, science

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