Vy'drach Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 http://time.com/3429938/pluto-planet-vote/ I am happy. It's silly and all, but I am happy it might regain planetary status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 A bunch of people saying "Pluto is a planet!" doesn't make it a planet and it had its classification changed for a specific reason to begin with. From NASA's site: In 2003, an astronomer saw a new object beyond Pluto. The astronomer thought he had found a new planet. The object he saw was larger than Pluto. He named the object Eris (EER-is). Finding Eris caused other astronomers to talk about what makes a planet a "planet." There is a group of astronomers that names objects in space. This group decided that Pluto was not really a planet because of its size and location in space. So Pluto and objects like it are now called dwarf planets. Pluto is also called a plutoid. A plutoid is a dwarf planet that is farther out in space than the planet Neptune. The three known plutoids are Pluto, Eris and Makemake (MAH-kee-MAH-kee). Astronomers use telescopes to discover new objects like plutoids. Scientists are learning more about the universe and Earth's place in it. What they learn may cause them to think about how objects like planets are grouped. Scientists group objects that are like each other to better understand them. Learning more about faraway objects in the solar system is helping astronomers learn more about what it means to be a planet. Isn't that cool? There's other shit in the Solar System we could only dream about a couple decades ago and we're now examining it at closer detail than ever. Yes, this requires us to alter our terminology a bit; it does not at all "demote" Pluto, we've just realized it fits better with a different group of objects that we previously didn't even know existed. It bothers me that people only seem to care about the infinite wonder of the universe whenever this third-grader "debate" comes up, and it bothers me that people continue to use clickbaity buzzwords to make Pluto's classification sound like a bad thing. Being considered a dwarf planet is no more a "demotion" or "downgrade" than realizing that a whale is not a fish. Nostalgia of Pluto's planetary status--which seems to be a bulk of the argument here--doesn't actually trump evolving scientific relevancy. Even then, this Harvard debate doesn't seem to care enough to actually officially re-instate it. From USAToday: What's next for Pluto? Not much, officially anyway, according to a spokesman from the International Astronomical Union: "There are currently no requests from any astronomers to put this issue on the agenda at the General Assembly" of the IAU, wrote Lars Lindberg Christensen, IAU press officer, in an e-mail to USA TODAY. So no, Pluto is not a planet, and it won't be considered one any time soon. This is not a bad thing in the least. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faisul Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I never understood the outrage over the reclassification of Pluto anyway. The scientific understanding of the universe changes over time. The words we use to label things and group things changes over time. We change over time. Sure it might be sad, briefly, but there's no point in trying to dredge up past terminology for things. Otherwise we might as well go back to talking about miasma in bacteriology or the interstellar medium of the æther when talking about empty space. Our understanding of the solar system is different, now, so we look at it differently. It's a tiny step along in a process that's been on-going for thousands of years: Galileo, Copernicus, Ptolemy, Aristotle. I would think we would celebrate this new understanding of the cosmos, not want to turn the clock back. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redeemer Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Now My Very Easy Method Just Speeds Up Naming Pluto as a planet again. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedora Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Pluto must be going through that tough time in a planet/planetoid/satellite/Flying Object In Space's life where it/he/she/zhe/PC-term doesn't know how to identify. So it/he/she/zhe/PC-term spends the time arguing on Tumblr about identification and how society will always say to be this or or be that but nothing it/he/she/zhe/PC-term actually wants to be. Lord knows if we will ever see Pluto grow out of this phase. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 actually if you want to go with the awkward, insensitive metaphors relating to nonbinary/trans people, it's actually more like Pluto deciding it fit an identity better than the one prescribed to it and was perfectly happy with it only to have half the world flip the fuck out and tell it that it's wrong and do everything in their power to fit that square peg back into the hole they want it in 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redeemer Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Tumblr reference was funny because tumblr but let's not delve into pluto's gender/sexual identity for real because it'll end messy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Monroe Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 You know a dwarf planet is still a planet guys. Its in the name. Planet. Are dwarf people not people? :V 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faisul Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Pluto must be going through that tough time in a planet/planetoid/satellite/Flying Object In Space's life where it/he/she/zhe/PC-term doesn't know how to identify. So it/he/she/zhe/PC-term spends the time arguing on Tumblr about identification and how society will always say to be this or or be that but nothing it/he/she/zhe/PC-term actually wants to be. Lord knows if we will ever see Pluto grow out of this phase. I like your style E: Tumblr reference was funny because tumblr but let's not delve into pluto's gender/sexual identity for real because it'll end messy. Of course gendersex ends messy, I'm involved 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfinitySquared Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 True story: When I was in 3rd grade, my teacher and I got into several long debates on whether or not Pluto was a planet or not (this was right after Pluto de-planetized) when we studied the planets. I'm glad to see I was right on that point Of course gendersex ends messy, I'm involved UH EXCUSE ME THIS IS OBVIOUSLY CIS/ANGLO/CHRISTIAN/HUMAN CENTRIC AND I'M GOING TO WRITE A 5 PAGE ESSAY ON HOW MUCH THAT OFFENDS ME I HATE YOU 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballisticwaffles Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 THERE ARE 9 PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN 9 PLANETS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT WAR WITH EURASIA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gestalt Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Reclaiming Pluto is but a stepping stone to far greater aims... THE GEOCENTRIC MODEL WILL RISE AGAIN, ALONG WITH THE SOUTH! wake up, sheeple 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfinitySquared Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Still waiting on the midwest to rise up. Come on ya wholesome pansies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drasiana Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 There was a good post on Tumblr that summed it up: The real problem with people fussing over Pluto all the time is it represents the priorities of the public - preserving traditions rather than accepting facts. The pursuit of science is about building a sustainable catalog of truths, and there is no advantage in altering truths to appease nostalgia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaoh Shadon Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I don't really care what pluto is classified there. We know its there, sooooooo we may as well see what its made of and stuff. (And i'm pretty sure that Pluto will only be named a planet/other just to make public happy. They probably call pluto some loooooong name anyway but just say pluto for us normal people XD) @Drasiana- DX I thought you were playing a joke on me for a moment. Chrome was acting a bit weird and was showing this x icon for avatars and your avatar showed up as mine. So I restarted my computer and it all went back to normal. Thought we had a thief on the run XD 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unoservix Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 this seems like an excellent thing to argue over in excessively nasty and personal terms 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vy'drach Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 this seems like an excellent thing to argue over in excessively nasty and personal terms So it would seem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snys93 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Not this bullsh*t again. Can't we agree that its rather larger piece of rock but too small to be a planetoid? I don't care either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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