Astronomical Controversy

When I was in Elementary School, I was taught that there were 9 planets in our solar system and that the mnemonic: My very elegant mother just served us nine pickles. Every word in that sentence begins with the first letter of the planets in order:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto!

I would like to to discuss the controversy surrounding Pluto.

Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. It was the first time an American had discovered a planet. Percival Lowell, who had established the observatory, had postulated that there was a ninth planet, which he referred to as "Planet X." Clyde Tombaugh, a 23 year old from Kansas was hired to look for Planet X. When he found it, he called it "Pluto" which was suggested by an 11 year old girl in England. It was named for the Roman God of the Underworld, not Mickey Mouse's dog, as you may have heard. In actuality, Mickey's pet was named after the planet!

In 2005 the American Planetary Society celebrated the 75th anniversary of the discovery of the planet Pluto.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto was not a planet. After much debate, it was decided that a planet must meet 3 criteria.
1. it must orbit the sun. (check)
2. it must be spherical in shape. (check)
3. it must have cleared the neighborhood of all debris.

Pluto was irresponsible with regard to cleaning up its neighborhood. Pluto's neighborhood is the Kuiper Belt which is populated by asteroids, called Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) or sometimes plutinos.

So Pluto has been demoted, demoralized and denigrated. It is no longer a planet, but a "dwarf planet."

The solar sytem now has eight planets. You can remember them by using this mnemonic device: Mooing very eagerly, Mary juggled slimy unicorns nimbly. Or making up your own sentence which creates a very unusual picture that is easy to remember.

This is a tragedy of astronomical proportions. But we can get through it together. I think if Pluto could talk, he would be grateful for his 75 years as a planet.

There are many morals to this story:

No job is safe in this economy.
Change is inevitable, nothing stays the same.
If you want to compete in Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader, remember the mooing juggler.
and, of course,

Don't litter.